Friday, January 19, 2007

Param: Gold not beyond reach

28/09/1997

AT the last Sea Games in Chiangmai, the women's soccer team fought with
pride and determination to bring back a medal.
But this time in Jakarta, it will be the colour of the medal that they
are more concerned about.
"After winning the silver medal two years ago, it is only right that we
go for the gold and my players are fully prepared to do just that," said
coach M. Paramasivam.
When asked about the poor performances in a recent four-nation
invitational tournament, Paramasivam said: "That happened when we were at
a stage of assembling the team. Right now we have just finished selecting
the best players in the country."
Singapore have also handed Malaysia a golden chance of making the
semifinals when they failed to form a team and withdrew from the Games.
"With Singapore's withdrawal, we will only have to win one match to make
the semis. The players have to beat either Myanmar or Indonesia and the
gold medal will be in sight."
Malaysia open their campaign on Oct 9 against Myanmar.
Paramasivam is confident that his players will be up to the task despite
the poor performance in their recent tour of China and South Korea.
"We lost both matches even before stepping onto the field. The Koreans
and Chinese are physically superior."
(END)