Monday, October 16, 2017

ASIA CUP: Oman warm-up for Super 4 crunch

MALAYSIA will use the last Group B match against Oman Monday as  warm-up for the Round Robbin of the Asia Cup.
  Coach Stephen van Huizen's men passed the group stage with flying colours when they hammered China 7-1 and then edged Asia Cup defending champions South Korea 2-1.
  Oman need a miracle to deny Malaysia full points to top the group, while for Malaysia, its how many goals they want to score.
  "No disrespect to the Oman players, as I aim to use this game as a warm-up before the 'real tournament' starts," said van Huizen.
  The top two teams in each group advance to the Round Robin where they play three more matches. The top two teams will then advance to the final.
  Oman has only played twice in the Asia Cup, with the last one being in Ipoh in 2013 where they ended sixth.
  "Our penalty corners are still not sharp, and we have one more match to get it right. The three matches in the Round Robbin is our true test, and we aim to pass the second stage with flying colours as well," said van Huizen.
  No 1 flicker Razie Rahim has been given many chances against China and Korea, but he has failed to deliver. Instead, No 2 flicker Faizal Shaari is more deadly in Dhaka.
  The other flickers which have yet to be used are Shahril Saabah and Najmi Jazlan.
  And it looks like van Huizen is keeping Shahril and Najmi for the second round.