Malaysia as chaotic as Delhi traffic...

MALAYSIA were not at their best, but the three points they shaved off New Zealand was a valuable step towards their target of finishing among the best in the Junior World Cup in New Delhi.
   Skipper Fitri Saari and his men were as chaotic as the New Delhi traffic, where rules are made to be broken by every form on wheels. Whizzing in and out, honking like crazy, and daring the other driver to cross their path is the attitude of the typical India driver.
   And not to mention the carts pulled by horses, elephants, and even camels freely intermingling with the traffic with chaotic harmony.
   But there was no harmony in Malaysia's 3-2 win over the Kiwis, as they almost lost the script in their chaotic approach of the match.
    And coach K. Dharmaraj summed it up when he said "we were lucky". But luck sometimes runs out of the New Delhi drivers too, as almost almost the cars, bikes and trucks have dents and scars to remind one of their mistakes on the road.
   Malaysia can no longer depend on luck in their remaining matches against England and South Africa. For the record, South Africa beat England 2-1, and Malaysia will be meeting the Africaans today at the Dhyan Chand Stadium.
    "At times, we were really reckless against New Zealand and we can't affford that in the remaining two matches. Starting with South Africa, we need to win all matches and not rely on other results to move into the last-eight," said Fitri.
   The Evel Knievel dare-devil attitude must only be displayed in the opponents semi-circle, and not in ther own back-yard which gave away nine silly penalty corners to the Kiwis.
   "Reallistically speaking, there ar no easy teams in the World Cup. Every team came here with a mission, and to take South Africa lightly would be foolish," said Dharmaraj.
    Foolish were Pakistan, when they toyed around with Egypt in Group A, and the score stood at 2-2 at one time, before they had to bring out their best to win 3-2.
    South African coach Darryn Galagher, knew the score when he said: "We came here knowing well that Malaysia would be the team to beat in our Group (D) and it will not be an easy match, as we need to counter their speedy strikers."
    Speedy, but not sharp, were the Malaysian strikers in their opening match.
    "Now that the first match of the tournament is out of the way, I believe my players would be much more settled after a day's rest. We came here with a mission, and at no cost, would stray from it," said Dharmaraj.
    Dharmaraj's personal target, just like the other 15 coaches, is to see his charges win the gold. And the first step towards it would be to collect full nine points in Group D, and not wait for other results to work in their favour to play in the quarter-finals.