THE Malaysian hockey team never ceases to amaze its fans, and their speciality is to produce results when one least expects them to.
The 20th Edition of the Azlan Shah Cup is a classic example of how erratic the team can be.
At the Asian Games, they were never expected to reach the final, but proved everyone wrong. But after fighting like wounded tigers in the previous matches, they bowed out in the final against Pakistan like domesticated cats.
"There has been many ups and downs in this tournament probably because we lost three key defenders to injuries and I had to reshuffle some positions.
"However, I believe the team's true strength was displayed when they played against South Korea. My players are capable of playing even better than this, and that is what we need to bring out of them when we play in the Olympic Qualifiers," said Malaysian coach Tai Beng Hai.
There was a show of free flow hockey, with Malaysia displaying that they can score with ease off almost flawless counter-attacks.
"That (counter-attacks) is the strength of this young side, as we have fast forwards. However, in this tournament, they have been playing inconsistently in some of the matches.
"And if you only play good hockey for 35 minutes, you will surely be punished by this world class field," said Beng Hai.
Malaysia meet Pakistan today, who are equally as erratic as Malaysia, and the match could swing either way.
However, if South Korea beat Great Britian in the earlier match, even if Maaysia beat Pakistan by a dozen goals, they will still end up last and rest on Sunday while the other six teams either play for medals, or for positions in the classification matches.
