MALAYSIAN juniors suffered a sobering 7-0 hammering in the hands of European champions Belgium in their second test at the Denetage Hockey Club in Antwerp on Sunday night.
The shocking humiliation came at the back of a 3-2 defeat in the first test, with the Belgium winner only coming in the 69th minute of play.
However, the Belgians fielded their full Junior World Cup squad in the second match, and also recalled the two players in training with their senior squad for the European Championships.
Malaysia were without five of their best, who are in training back home with the senior side for the Asia Cup in Ipoh.
The juniors are on a nine-match tour of Europe to prepare for the Junior World Cup and after this, they will travel to England for another three matches.
For the record, Belgium played England in a three-match series earlier and lost the first 4-3, and won the other two matches 4-1 and 5-2.
Coach K. Dharmaraj’s side crumbled after missing two sitters in the first five minutes of the match, and also blew a penalty stroke which hit the post.
At half-time, the score was 0-3 and in their haste to push for goals, saw the Belgians counter and score four more in the second half.
“It was the worst performance ever from our players, as they kept missing sitters and hitting the bar and post during the penalty stroke and also penalty corners.
“Sloppy defending resulted in this huge defeat, and now we will work to raise their game in the last match on Wednesday before leaving for the England series,” said juniors manager Mirnawan Nawawi.
The England matches are slated for Aug They will next play the England U-21 squad to three test matches on August 1 , 3 and 4.
Monday, July 29, 2013
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