Malaysia fifth after shoot-out..

THE national hockey team were held 1-1, then taken to a shoot-out, before they tamed Japan 4-3 to finish fifth in the World League Semi-finals at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru yesterday.
  And the fifth spot is priceless for the hosts as there is a big possibility that it might turn into a World Cup ticket after the four Continental championships are over.
  "It was by far the worst performance by Malaysia in this tournament, but in the end, the most important fact is that we finished as high as we could after being knocked out it the quarter-finals," said Malaysian coach Paul Revington.
  Revington, who had sent in a quit letter two weeks before the tournament started, did not want to comment on his future just yet.
  "No comments, as I will need some time to think about that and come back to you guys," said Revington.
  Malaysia lived dangerously as they toyed around with the fifth placing before finally subduing the Japanese in the penalty shoot-out.
 In the first half, Razie Rahim's penalty corner in the 10th minute saw Malaysia taking the lead, but after that, it was a tale of missing sitters.
  And Japan grew in confidence as Malaysia kept on missing, and nailed the equaliser off a confusing penalty corner set-piece in the 29th minute when Shinji Kawauchi got the last touch.
  Malaysia played in patches in the second half, and were lucky that Japan were not interested to attack, but rather park the bus and defend for at least 20 minutes and rely on counters which never came.
  And in the end, the match went into a shootout with Malaysia only failing to score one, when Faiz Helmi misjudged, while Japan's Kei Kawakami and Manabu Haatakeyaman missed to give Malaysia a 4-3 win.
  In the Seventh-Eight placing match, Pakistan beat South Africa 6-2.
  And now, coach Akhtar Rasool and his men want to forget the painful episode in Johor Baru and prepare for the Asia Cup in Ipoh.
  "We played well in almost all the matches but were unlucky, especially against Malaysia in the Seventh-Eighth. We had more opportunities and played much better than Malaysia, but the goals never came," said Akhtar.
  And if they miss the boat in the Asia Cup, Pakistan will sit out of the World Cup for the first time since it made its debut in 1971.
  RESULTS: Seventh-Eighth: South Africa 2 Pakistan 6; Fifth-Sixth: Japan 1 Malaysia 1 (Malaysia win shoot-out 4-3).
  Third-Fourth: South Korea 1 England 2; Final: Argentina 2 Germany 4.

Pakistan not in Seventh heaven..

PAKISTAN beat South Africa 6-2 to finish seventh in the World League Semi-finals.
  And now, coach Akhtar Rasool and his men want to forget the painful episode in Johor Baru and prepare for the Asia Cup in Ipoh.
  "We played well in almost all the matches but were unlucky, especially against Malaysia in the Seventh-Eighth. We had more opportunities and played much better than Malaysia, but the goals never came," said Akhtar.
  And now, iit is back to the drawing board for the Asian Games champions.
  "As Asian champions, we fear nothing in the Asia Cup as we go all out to make sure Pakistan play in the World Cup," said Akhtar.
  And if they miss the boat in the Asia Cup, Pakistan will sit out of the World Cup for the first time since it made its debut in 1971.
  The Greenshirts coped well with a spell of early South African dominance to take a 1-0 lead into half time before scoring five times in the second half, with Muhammad Waqas, Muhammad Rizwan Sr, Aamir Shazad, Abdul Haseem Khan (2) and Abbas Haider Bilgrami doing the damage.
  The final goal of the game came from Haseem Khan, who netted his seventh of the tournament four minutes from full time.