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By Jugjet Singhjugjet@nst.com.myCOMMENTRESPECT is what the Malaysian hockey team needs to start earning, if they want to break into the top-10 bracket in the world.
It is the vital ingredient which is conspicuously missing since a decade ago, when we started losing to minnows in qualifiers and friendlies.
And the 4-4 draw with Italy, better known for soccer than hockey, in the Olympic Qualifier in Kakamigahara, Japan in 2008 was among the major reasons why European teams lost respect of our national side.
Compared with European sides, hockey players in Malaysia are a blessed lot, as they travel far and wide to gain experience before any major tournaments but still lose to teams who rely more on domestic tournaments for ex posure.
This year alone, the national players have competed in the Azlan Shah Cup, then went on China, Australia and Europe Tours to play friendlies, and also a Five-Nation.
But rather than improve and gain recognition, Malaysia lost to China and also to Australian club sides, which further dragged their sagging respect to further depths.
Their latest defeat was to an Irish side which in this year, only played in the Celtic Cup in June and then the recent friendlies against Malaysia.
That was all the exposure which the Irish had this year.
But still, the Irish lads held Malaysia to a 3-3 draw and only lost 4-2 and 3-2 before winning the final match 2-1. This is because they no longer respect Malaysia after beating them 2-1 in the semi-finals of the Champions Challenge II in Dublin last year.
The Italians, Irish, Poles, Scots, French and Belgium no longer fear Malaysia, and that is why we keep losing to them in Qualifiers and missing the boat to Olympics and World Cups.
Australia are the most feared team in the world right now, as they have earned their stripes with Olympic and World Cup gold medals.
Now, even when Netherlands, German and Spain play Australia, they show great respect by not adopting open play, which in turn is capitalised by the Aussies to mount full presses resulting in early goals.
Malaysia have a golden chance to regain some respect when they start their Five-Nation in France today.
They must not only beat, but score as many goals as possible against Poland, Ireland, Scotland and France in the Five-Nation if they hope to be respected when they play in the Commonwealth and then the all-important Asian Games.
If not, Australia, India and Pakistan will maul us in the Commonwealth Games, and in the Asian Games grouping, South Korea and China will slam the semi-finals door shut on van Huizen’s men.
In the end, we will end up struggling to even beat Oman and Singapore in the Asian Games, just like when we could only beat Hong Kong 2-1 in the Doha Games in 2006.
Respect cannot be learned, purchased or acquired - it can only be earned, and Malaysia must start their journey in France today.
www.hookhockey.com
Senior Men’s International: Ireland 2 (Timmy Cockram 2) Malaysia 1 (Muhammad Razie).
Timmy Cockram’s second half double crowned Ireland’s best half of hockey over the four ties with Malaysia at Belfield this week, netting the two corners the country earned.
Both came from switch left moves, the second of which came on the final hooter at the second attempt after the Malaysian number one runner blocked the Lisnagarvey striker’s initial effort.
It was a just reward for an improved, though still flawed, performance from Paul Revington’s men as they feel their way back into action after a six-week lay-off.
Indeed, Ireland managed to keep in contention in each tie with the speedy Malaysians – ranked five places higher in the world – who are amid preparations for the Commonwealth Games in spite of some rocky periods.
An error-strewn first half –in which John Jackson claimed his 50th cap – tonight was a case in point. The visitors thought they had scored in a similar manner to Saturday’s opener when Tajol Rosli’s baseline pull-back ballooned up off a stick and Baljit Singh batted in to the backboard.
It was over shoulder-height, though, and led to a penalty corner in place of a goal. No matter, Muhammad Razie whizzed a flick to the glove side of David Harte’s net.
But, while Ireland struggled to get going, they still picked off a few decent opportunities. Eugene Magee miscued when well-placed while Andy McConnell had a goal chalked off after a tidy right wing move.
It was not overly polished stuff but the hosts were getting into the right positions but the final details were going awry.
Gradually the chances became clearer as David Ames’ creativity and guile came to the fore. A Jackson cross was deflected brilliantly by Mitch Darling’s upright, openside touch which rattled the crossbar while Darling and Cockram forced a double-save from Ibrahim Kairuilnizam.
Ames and Geoff McCabe one-two finally won a first green penalty corner in the 60th minute, allowing Cockram to find the bottom-left corner with a low bullet.
And a fortuitous second corner – a Malaysian defender making a hames of controlling the ball – gave Ireland a golden chance on the final buzzer. Cockram’s drag was blocked but landed stock still and within reach and he managed to poke home the second round for the winner.
Paul Revington was pleased with the improvement shown since Saturday’s outing: “Tonight was better for us as we performed for 50 minutes but the first 10 to 15 minutes were still a bit tentative for which there is no reason. There were fewer gifts tonight and that meant more control in the game by the Irish, which resulted in more sustained pressure for which we were duly rewarded.”
Ireland now head to Paris on Tuesday to play in a Five Nations tournament, the squad for which will be announced early in the week.
Ireland: David Harte, John Jackson, Ronan Gormley (capt), Chris Cargo, Eugene Magee, Andy McConnell, Timmy Cockram, David Ames, Paul Gleghorne, Conor Harte, Phelie Maguire
Subs: Geoff McCabe, Joe Brennan, Mitch Darling, Alan Sothern, Alan Giles
Malaysia: Ibrahim Kairuilnizam, Muhammad Marhan, Muhammad Amin, Tajol Rosli, Harvinder Singh, Mohamed Sukri, Mohan Jivan, Muhammad Razie, Baljit Singh, Muhamad Azammi, Azreen Rizal
Subs: Ahmad Kazamirul, Saari Faizal, Ahmad Tajudin, Nabil Figri, Muhammad Fikri
Umpires: Graeme Caulwell, Kieran Bolger.
www.hookhockey.comTHE curse of the 3-2, last minute concession affected Ireland yet again as the Irish senior men were undone by Hanfi Hafifihafiz’ late corner deflection to take the spoils at Belfield in the third of four internationals at Belfield this week.
Such a scoreline twice undid the Ireland U-17 girls and this one was similarly frustrating as the boys in green bounced back from a 2-0 deficit only to give up a late corner.
Paul Revington made wholescale changes with John Jackson, Eugene Magee, Mitch Darling, Timmy Cockram and Conor Harte making their first appearances since the summer break with Andy McConnell, David Ames and Ronan Gormley coming back into the side.
And the coach admitted afterwards the changes led to a rusty performance, taking over 45 minutes to truly click into gear.
Speaking after the game, Revington said: “We are disappointed to lose in the final minute having worked hard to get back into the game. Also we are disappointed that two of the goals came from one v one situations that we lost and that needs to be rectified.
“I thought this group took 35 minutes to get back into international standard of the game tempo and showed in the second half that they equally matched the pace and tempo of Malaysians. Tomorrow we want to play at a high level and tempo for the duration of the game.”
Malaysia bossed the first period and took just four minutes to get on top. Ahmad Tajudin – a thorn in both prior matches – glided down the right touchline before Hanfi Hafifihafiz’ deflection from close range looped goalward and Baljit Singh made sure with a high tap in at the back post.
Cockram fizzed a reverse moments later which the returning Jamluddin Roslan getting a toe ahead to the ball, inches before the sliding Magee. But it was as good as Ireland created before the interval as they relied on three superb Joe Brennan interventions to break up attacks while Ronan Gormley cleared Tajudin’s slipped cross from the goalmouth.
Gleghorne blocked down two corner strikes in quick succession while Iain Walker continued his decent form between the posts.
Ireland played a deeper formation, perhaps attempting to deny the space afforded to Malaysia on Thursday night. The Asian side, as a result, held plenty of possession and stole in on a number of sketchy mistakes.
It became 2-0 in the 40th minute in stunning style – a steal on their own 25 metre line precipitated a five-second transfer with Saari Faizal using a semi-upright reverse to clip in off the inside of the post with only two passes needed to forge the opportunity.
Ireland’s attacks to this point were frustrated on the fringes of the circle, numerous crash balls blocked out by the first defender.
But they got a lifeline 18 minutes from time with a brilliant created move – Jason Lynch’s right-wing hit redirected into Timmy Cockram’s path by Andy McConnell.
It came up slightly awkwardly up from a defender’s stick but he kept his eye on the ball to volley on his reverse from about the flick spot past a scrambling Roslan. Walker denied a Faizal one-on-one chance and dived to tip Muhamad Amin’s drag-flick around the post.
And when Alan Sothern dragged home Ireland’s second corner with seven minutes to go to tie the game up, Ireland were on the verge of an unlikely result.
But Malaysia nicked a late corner and Amin’s drag to the right post neatly located the sliding Hafifihafiz for the winner. They play their fourth fixture of the week tomorrow at Belfield at 7pm.
Elsewhere, the men’s Irish Masters enjoyed an impressive opening day to their Home Nations Plus tournament in Hillsborough. The men’s over 50s drew 4-4 with Scotland before beating Wales 5-0 while the over 40s beat Wales 1-0.
Ireland: Iain Walker, Ronan Gormley (capt), John Jackson, Chris Cargo, Eugene Magee, Andy McConnell, Mitch Darling, Timmy Cockram, David Ames, Paul Gleghorne, Conor Harte
Subs: Alan Sothern, Joe Brennan, Phelie Maguire, Bruce McCandless, Jason Lynch
Malaysia: Jamluddin Roslan, Muhamad Amin, Muhammad Marhan, Madzli Ikmar, Saari Faizal, Mohamad Sukri, Misron Azlan, Muhammad Razie, Hanfi Hafifihafiz, Baljit Singh, Ahmad Tajudin
Subs: Tajol Rosli, Izwan Firdaus, Muhamad Azammi, Azreen Rizal
Umpires: Dan Clarke, Robert Johnston
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PIC: Kelvinder (right).WHILE the national hockey team is in Europe for friendlies and a Five-Nation, one of Malaysia’s best is training at home and fighting against time to recover from a knee operation.
Kelvinder Singh, voted as the best player in the 2005 Junior World Cup even though Malaysia finished 10th, suffered a knee injury after the Azlan Shah Cup in May and just returned to training two weeks ago.
He missed the China, Australia and now Europe Tours, and might even miss the Commonwealth Games boat, placing his selection for the Asian Games in doubt.
“Kelvinder went for an operation and recently returned to training and that is why we did not want to rush and field him for the Europe Tour.
“We know his capabilities, and when the team returns from Europe at the end of the month, there is still another month to decide on his selection into the Commonwealth Games squad,” said team manager George Koshy.
And even is he does not go to Delhi: “He has always been an asset to Malaysia, and even if his injury does not fully recover for the Commonwealth Games, we will still consider him for the Asian Games,” said George.
Kelvinder has always been among the fittest in the national side, and hits the 14 mark when tests are conducted.
“We have to select players who are fully fit for both the Games because only 16 are allowed to be registered, of which two spots are taken up by goalkeepers.
“That is why we don’t want to rush Kelvinder, and only field him when we are sure that his movements are back to normal.”
Malaysia played two matches against Ireland and drew the first 3-3, and won the second 4-2.
After playing two more matches against the Irish, the team will head for France to play a Five-Nation against the hosts, Poland, Ireland and Scotland in preparation for the Com monwealth Games in New Delhi from Oct 3-14.
By Jugjet Singh
