Individual play the cause..

PAUL REVINGTON
 
"I left a bunch of frustrated players in the dressing room just now, but I believe they will overcome the disappointment of this match and play much better against South Africa tomorrow (today)," was Malaysian coach Paul Revington's assessment of the match.
  The main problem after taking a 3-0 lead was that individual play crept into the match.
  "Yes, we played as a team for 35 minutes, but individual play crept in into the second half and that was pleasing to the gallery, but not to the scoreline.
  "That is why we are ranked 13th in the world, and when I can make them play as a team for 70 minutes, we will surely move up the rankings," said Revington.
  Pakistan coach Akhtar Rasool was pleased as punch: "Malaysia were lucky, as they scored early goals as by right, we had many more chances to seal the match but failed to win today (yesterday)."

Malaysia 4 Pakistan 4

MALAYSIA crumbled after taking a 3-0 lead to draw 4-4 with Pakistan in the opening encounter of the World League Semi-finals at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru yesterday.
  Draw was also the order of the day, as World No 1 Germany were held 1-1 by Argentina, while Japan drew 3-3 with South Korea.
  For Malaysia, three early penalty corner goals were not good enough for three points, as Pakistan clawed back into the match.
  Faizal Saari, who seems to play his best matches at the Taman Daya Stadium, won the first penalty corner for Malaysia in the third minute and Razie Rahim made it count.
  And in the seventh minute, Faizal again won a penalty corner and Razie's sizzling flick beat goalkeeper Imran Shah yet again.
   And in the 18th minute, off Malaysia's fourth penalty corner, Razie's flick was stopped by Imran, but pusher Marhan Jalil slammed it in back for a 3-0 lead.
   Pakistan pulled one back in the 26th minute off their second penalty corner when Abdul Haseem Khan made it count.
   And just after the restart Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, who was in the shadows most of the first half, scored a super field goal in the 38th minute to make it 4-1.
  However, Pakistan kept winning penalty corners and in the 42nd minute, Muhammad Tausiq finally perfected it and scored the second goal for his team.
   And Pakistan kept pushing and were finally rewarded in the 56th minute with a penalty stroke which Shakeel Abbasi cooly tucked in past goalkeeper S. Kumar to narrow the gap to 3-4.
  And a backstick tackle by Norhizzat Sumantri gave Pakistan their ninth penalty corner and Muhammad Imran made it 4-4 in the 61 minute.
 
GROUP A

          P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
JAPAN     1  0  1  0  3  3  1
S KOREA   1  0  1  0  3  3  1
GERMANY   1  0  1  0  1  1  1
ARGENTINA 1  0  1  0  1  1  1

GROUP B

           P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
MALAYSIA   1  0  1  0  4  4  1
PAKISTAN   1  0  1  0  4  4  1
ENGLAND    1  0  1  0  3  3  1
S AFRICA   1  0  1  0  3  3  1

  RESULTS: Group A -- Germany 1 Argentina 1, South Korea 3 Japan 3.
  Group B: Pakistan 4 Malaysia 4, England 3 South Africa 3.
  TODAY: Group A: Argentina v Japan (3pm), Korea v Germany (5pm).
 Group B: Pakistan v England (7pm), South Africa v Malaysia (9pm).

Japan 3 Korea 3

JAPAN came back from being 0-3 down to hold South Korea 3-3 in the World League semi-finals at Johor Baru.
   Japan coach Kang Keong Wook was surprised with the comeback: "Im surprised, maybe my players wanted to show that they are no push-overs and played a very good match in the second half."
   Kang, a Korean, has helped his country win silver medal in the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
  Korean coach Shin Seok Kyo attributed the yo-yo performance to overconfidence.
  "Halftime 3-0, and then we became overconfident and now will have to win against tougher opponents Germany and Argentina," said Shin.
   Korea: Kim Seong Kyu (15th), Lee Nam Young (24th), Kang Moon Kweon (26th).
   Japan: Kawakimi Kei (43rd), Tachibana Toshiro (57th), Yoshihara Heita (61st)

Argies hold Germany 1-1..

World No 1 Germany were shocked 1-1 by Argentina in the opening World League Semi-finals match in Johor Baru.
  The Germans scored off a Christopher Zeller penalty corner in the fifth minute, and Argentina replied also with a penalty corner in the 61st minute off a Gonzalo Peillat low drive.
  German coach Markus Weise said it was not easy playing under sauna conditions (3pm start) but his Argentina counterpart Carlos Retegui begged to differ.
  "I played my first game here in Malaysian in the Junior World Cup (1982) and ever since have loved the Malaysian weather. If we had played this tournament in Germany, wouldn't teams complain about the cold?," questioned Retegui.....
     The Argies coach was elated, as it is not easy to hold Olympic champions to a draw, and they are now looking forward to a super run in Johor Baru.

Looks can be deceiving..

THE World Hockey League Semi-finals looks like a walk in the park, as a team just needs to enjoy the first three matches and then go for broke in the quarters and semis to qualify for the World Cup.
  But like the easygoing chameleon, the tournament is designed to trap and destroy teams which are not consistent, and are not prepared mentally and physically for the last two hurdles.
  Malaysia has never qualified for the World Cup since hosting it in 2002, and would find it difficult to finish among the medallists, as only the top-three advance to the Hague, Netherlands, next year.
  Looking back at the Champions Challenge I in Argentina last December, hopefully Paul Revington and his men are better prepared for a tournament which offers all eight teams a place in the quarter-finals.
  In the Champions Challenge Malaysia, in Group A, beat Poland 4-0, South Korea 4-2 and Canada 4-2 to enter the quarter-finals with their head high in the clouds.
  And in the quarter-finals, Malaysia hammered South Africa 4-1 which was a super and remarkable achievement by any standard.
  However, when it mattered most, Paul Revington’s men were crushed 6-3 by South Korea in the semi-finals, and then in the bronze play-off, were beaten 4-3 by Ireland.
  Fourth placing in Argentina, after a super group and quarterfinal run, must never be allowed to happen in Johor Baru -- if the team has learnt from the past.
  Comparatively, the Koreans only had one win in the group stages, but went all the way to the final before Argentina showed class to whip them 5-0 for the title.
  Both Argentina and South Korea are also down in Johor Baru, and when one strings together England, Germany and Pakistan -- the leader-board looks cluttered with the chances of Malaysia sneaking in as a top-three candidate looking like a remote bet on Russian Roulette.
  However, national coach Paul Revington is as optimistic as ever, and has even put the turbulent period before the World League to rest.
  "I don't think this past week has been the concern - it was the period between January and just prior to last week that definitely affected everyone involved in the national squad.
  "We managed to keep a lid on things through the Azlan Shah Cup and produced some quality hockey as a team and squad (Silver medal behind Australia).
  "However, immediately after the Azlan Shah Cup, the real issues set in. I am confident that we have managed to get control of the situation and I will be pushing for further improvement than the Azlan Shah performance," said Revington.
  And his thoughts on the opening game were: "Malaysia versus Pakistan has developed into a good rivalry over recent years.
  "Pakistan are a very good side and we respect their ability. I think everyone in this event also knows that Malaysia have been improving year after year, month by month and have a group of players who can match any team in world hockey.
  "This makes the opening game an exciting encounter."
   The South African picked Germany as one of the top-three teams, and said the other seven have an equal chance to lay their hands on the remaining two slots.