Learn, or be trampled at the World Cup..

MALAYSIA'S best chance to win the Asia Cup title vanished in Ipoh over the weekend,
but Paul Revington and his men must rise from the ashes as they only have nine
months to prepare for next year's World Cup.
   The 12-team tournament will be held in the Netherlands on May 31 to June 15, and
Malaysia must prepare a decent side to better their eighth placing achieved when they
last played at the elite level at the Kuala Lumpur 2002 World Cup.
    To date, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has named nine teams which have
qualified and they are Germany, Netherlands, England, Belgium, Australia, New
Zealand, Spain, Argentina and South Korea.
    The FIH are awaiting for the completion of the Africa Cup of Nations at Nairobi on
Sept 26-Oct 5 and the Oceania Cup on Oct 28-Nov 3 before they can officially
announce the other three teams.
   However, the World League system will also see India and Malaysia qualify, leaving
the last berth which is expected to go to South Africa after the end of the Africa Cup.
   So in acuatlity, all 12 teams can be named today, and 13th ranked Malaysia  will be
the lowest ranked team in the 2014 World Cup.
   Only eighth ranked Pakistan are missing from the 12-team tournament, while the rest
 of the top-12 World ranked teams have qualified as expected.
    It was no easy feat for Revington and his men, as they battled with the best to finish
fifth in the World League in Johor Baru to achieve the feat.
    But in Ipoh, some of the players looked like they ran out of ideas and game
approach, while one looked like he had too much of outside the camp life and was
limp and listless on the picth.
   This so called Super Star in the making, was seen a few times after midnight at the
makan stalls around Ipoh with friends, as it looked like there was no curfew for him
while the rest were at the team hotel.
    Discipline must be installed early, and it is dangerous for players who are easily
recognisable to break camp curfew, because if they get into trouble, they only have
themselves to blame.
   Malaysia lost the bronze to Pakistan 3-1, who even beat Paul Revington's men in the
group stages 4-1, and the Green Shirts are only ranked eighth in the world.
   In the World Cup, Malaysia might be grouped together with Germany, Belgium and
the Netherlands and if they continue to play like they did in the Asia Cup, Malaysia re
in for a sound beating.
     Revington must shoulder some of the blame for a poor finish in Ipoh, as the more
than 30 penalty corners were direct attempts with only a single set-piece in the bronze
playoff against Pakistan.
    Needless to say, the penalty corner deflection attempt by Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin
went wrong, as he lacked practice in the group stages.
   The coach must learn, just like his players, to adapt to a match after five minutes of
play, and not follow the same regimental approach which is easily read by their
opponents.
    South Korea showed that they are still the best in Asia after winning their fourth
gold in nine editions by beating India 4-3, Pakistan hold the distinction of winning three, while India have won two previously.
      Korean coach Shin Seok Kyo summed up what Malaysia need to do to improve:
"When we lost 2-0 to India in the group stages, I watched the video again and again
until I came up with a game-plan to beat them in the final. We need to constantly learn
and adapt to win matches.
    "Even though three Asian teams have qualified for the World Cup, it is not going to
be easy for us as Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), Argentina and all the
European teams are at least three steps ahead of us now.
    "We need to keep on learning after every match, if not, the Asian teams will end up as the bottom three in the World Cup next year."