‘NO MORE EXCUSES,’ SAYS SUBAHAN
Malaysia cannot afford any slip-up
THE national men’s hockey team will be stepping onto the FIH Series Finals stage against Brazil today with two stern warnings from their coach and Malaysia Hockey Confederation (MHC) president.
National coach Roelant Oltmans said: “Brazil are ranked 27th in the world and if we lose to them, we better not think about the Tokyo Olympics.”
And MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal had already said during the Azlan Shah Cup: “No more excuses that the team played well or displayed world class hockey, but sadly lost the match.”
Brazil are no pushovers and Malaysia need to score early goals to break their spirit, as leaving it to the last quarter could turn disastrous.
Following a 3-2 defeat to UiTM Hockey Club and going down 5-1 to the national juniors — Brazil have grown in strength through the friendlies played, only narrowly losing out to Canada 4-3.
Jet-lag is over, as the players came early to get adjusted to the 11-hour time difference in Rio de Janeiro.
Both the teams have not played in any international tournament prior to today’s meeting, with their only recent encounter being four years ago back in 2015.
This time round as hosts, the national senior squad cannot afford any slip-up in today’s opening match.
Skipper Shukri Mutalib knows this all too well.
“Even though I missed the Azlan Shah Cup because of injury, I know how hard everybody has been training in preparation for this tournament, and we’ve got a ‘big’ opening match against Brazil.
“I say big, as no team is too small in any tournament.
“We will play to win against Brazil, and the score line does not matter, as we need maximum points from all three group matches to make it to the semifinals and avoid having to go through a second-third spot playoff,” said Shukri who is 33 years old and has an astonishing 314 caps.
With stern warnings from Oltmans, Subahan, as well as a timely reminder of what needs to be done from the most capped skipper in the tournament, nothing must go wrong when the home side square off against Brazil.
Malaysia and Brazil will be playing in Group B, along with China and Italy, while Group A has Canada, Wales, Belarus and Austria.
World No 10 ranked Canada are expected to top Group A and snatch a berth to the semi-finals.
And the battle for the other slot in Group B will surely be between Malaysia and China.
World No 12 Malaysia beat Canada twice in the Azlan Shah Cup, in a pool match and during the third-fourth placing, but that can’t be taken into account if both the teams end up squaring off in the final.
Canada are wary of Wales, while Belarus and Austria will be treated with equal respect.
Canada open their campaign against Wales, who have a youthful side known for their speed. FIXTURES
TODAY: GROUP A — Austria v Belarus (2.05pm, Pitch 1), Canada v Wales (4.05pm, Pitch I).
GROUP B: Italy v China (6.05pm, Pitch 1), Malaysia v Brazil (8.05pm, Pitch I).