World League, Asia Cup or bust...

A GOLDEN Goal from Peter Caruth gave Ireland a sen sational extra-time victory over Malaysia to claim the bronze  medal at the Champions Challenge I in Argentina.
  And in the final, hosts Argentina whitewashed South Korea  5-0 to claim their Champions Trophy fame.
   Malaysian coach Paul Revington was heartbroken with the  sudden-death failure, but:  “I’m sad for the moment but I am  excited about the future as in balance, what the team has  done in the last six weeks has been terrific.”
   Will McCabe gave Ireland a dream start with a breath- taking strike from the right, picking up a pass from Michael  Watt before hammering a low drive beyond the despairing S.  Kumar in the third minute.
     However, Malaysia’s confidence was restored in the 18th  minute thanks to Ismail Abu, who got a crucial touch in the  circle to tie the scores at 1-1.
   The Malaysians started looking more like the team that had  impressed so much in the early part of this tournament, but  the Irish upped their game and moved ahead when Conor  Harte fired home a penalty corner eight minutes before half  time.
   Ireland’s failure to put the game out of the reach of  Malaysia cost them dear in the 50th minute, when Faizal  Saari produced a moment of brilliance.
    A Malaysian counter-attack found Faizal on the half way  line, with the attacker running fully 40 meters before  unleashing a fierce strike into the roof of the Irish net to make  the score 2-2.
    Malaysia thought that they had won the match in normal  time when Nabil Fiqri was on hand to tap in following another  great save from David Harte in the 67th minute.
    Incredibly, Ireland went straight down the other end and  levelled the scores at 3-3, with Conor Harte netting another  penalty corner variation to delight the Irish fans in the  crowd.
    Harte’s goal sent the match into extra time, and in the 80th  minute, Peter Caruth surged into the circle and smashed an  unstoppable reverse stick shot into the Malaysian net before  wheeling away in celebration.
    Malaysia skipper Sharun Nabil was also optimistic: “We  had a lot of chances, but didn’t take them. That’s why we lost  the match. We were not organised in defence, which allowed  them to score the golden goal. All in all, we had a great  tournament in Argentina, but we have to work really hard to  improve.”
    Revington and his men will have two chances to qualify for  the 2014 World Cup. The first is the World League which  starts in May, and the next is the Asia Cup on Aug 24-Sept 1  in Ipoh.
    Malaysia will play in Round Two of the World League on  May 27 to June 2 in Elektrostal, Russia. And for company,  they have Austria, Egypt, Japan, Russia and Ukraine.
    Malaysia will play in Round Two of the World League on May 27 to June 2 in Elektrostal, Russia. And for company, they have Austria, Egypt, Japan, Russia and Ukraine.
   Malaysia needs to finish amongst the top two in Russia to move into the Third Round which will comprise of eight teams each in Germany and Holland.
     And from there they need to finish amongst the top four to make the final round, and in the process seal a spot in the 2014 World Cup.
    The World League would be the easier route, as in the Asia Cup, Malaysia will be up against South Korea, India, Pakistan and Japan.