Don’t be intimidated by world hockey giants, Subahan Kamal tells national squad

SEPANG: The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) believes that the national men’s hockey squad can pull off an upset and will not be intimated by the world’s best teams at the 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India, which is scheduled to begin this Wednesday.

MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said he wanted The Speedy Tigers to take their win against 2016 Olympic gold medallists Argentina in March as an inspiration for their Group D matches against Germany, The Netherlands, and Pakistan.

“Malaysia is likely to create a shock because I have told the players not to consider the world giants as a barrier (to success). We have won against Argentina, which means we can defeat any team. They just have to do their best, give their best and you never know the outcome,” he told the media after handing over the Jalur Gemilang to the national team at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) before they headed off to India.

Apart from Malaysia, the World Cup will feature the national teams of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Spain.

The national squad was drawn into Group D and face Dutch in the opening game on Dec 1 before playing against four-time world champions Pakistan four days later and two-time champions Germany on Dec 9.

Malaysia is eyeing a top ten finish out of 16 teams this time after finishing last out of 12 in the 2014 edition in The Hague, Netherlands, with their best performance ever in 1975 on home ground, when they finished fourth.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s head coach Roelant Oltmans believes that the team is mentally and physically prepared for the World Cup, adding there was no pressure even though Malaysia were placed in the ‘group of death’ with Pakistan, Holland and Germany.