Milo Malaysia hat-trick
MILO Malaysia completed a hattrick of titles after winning the Milo Hidup Bola Under-16 Futsal Championship in Pattaya yesterday,
The 12-member squad won all their round-robin matches for the first time in the three-year history of the four-team tournament, while also extending their unbeaten run to nine matches during that period.
National futsal coach Chiew Chun Yong, who guided the team for the past one week following the Grand Finals in Subang Jaya on Nov 26, was surprised with the final outcome due to the short preparation period.
“I am bit surprised we won all our games because I was not sure what to expect due to the lack of training time,” said Chun Yong at the Muang Pattaya 2 School gymnasium.
“But the credit goes to the boys because I laid down a simple tactical plan and they carried it out very well. The key to winning was following instructions.”
Luqman Hakim Mustaza emerged as the tournament’s top scorer with six goals, including a hat-trick while others who stood out were captain Nik Umar Nik Aziz, Iqmal Ramlan, Izuddin Asri and goalkeepers Affiq Miswan and Azim Al Amin Kamaruddin.
“This batch of players have a good future ahead of them and I expect some football coaches will be signing them up soon,” said Chun Yong, who would rather have the players continuing playing futsal.
Milo Malaysia started well as Nik Umar, Luqman, Zulkefley Abu Bakar and Izuddin scored to give the defending champions a 4-0 lead over Pattaya Thai-Tech FC before the home team used power-play to reduce the deficit.
Luqman then bagged a hattrick in firing Milo Malaysia to a 3-0 lead against Nonthaburi FC in an eventual 4-2 win with Nik Umar getting the fourth goal.
Heading into the last roundrobin match, Milo Malaysia knew the title was theirs for the taking for as long as they avoided a three-goal defeat to Chonburi Bluewave.
But Luqman scored a double either side of half-time with further goals from Nik Umar, Wafiyuddin Rozilah and Adib Hamidi eased any lingering nerves for a 5-0 rout.
Milo Malaysia topped the table with nine points, followed by Pattaya, Nonthaburi and Chonburi, all on three points, in that order.
RESULTS — Milo Malaysia 4 Pattaya 3, Chonburi 2 Nonthaburi 1, Milo Malaysia 4 Nonthaburi 2, Pattaya 4 Chonburi 1, Nonthaburi 3 Pattaya 2, Milo Malaysia 5 Chonburi 0.