Malaysia Rev-it up!

MALAYSIA hammered the daylights out of South Africa with a punishing 4-1 win in the Quarter-finals of the Champions Challenge I in Buenos Aires, Argentina yesterday.
   Coach Paul Revington’s men will now meet either Japan or South Korea in the semi-finals.
   Malaysia showed that they meant business when Izwan Firdaus scored in the fourth minute of the match, and a brace from Faizal Saari in the 38thth and 57th minutes and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin’s goal in the 56th minute sealed the match.
   The South African goal was scored by Austin smith in the 63rd minute.
   “We have reached the target set by the Malaysian Hockey  Confederation (MHC) which is to finish top-four in the  Champuions challenge to improve our rankings.
   “However, the team has his own target of winning the title  and playing in the Champions Trophy and that will be our  focus in the remaining two matches,” said Malaysian team  manager George Koshy.
   George attributed the early goal was settling their nerves:  “After that, the confidence grew and the players managed to  soak  in the pressure and deliver the goals.”
    For the record, Malaysia finished fourth in the 2001  Champions Challenge in Kuala Lumpur when they lost to  Argentina 4-2 in the bronze battle.