Perak are champs!
Silver State lift Razak Cup for second straight year
BUKIT JALIL: Perak came from a goal down twice to be crowned as the Razak Cup champions for the second straight year after a tense penalty shootout against Terengganu in the final.
After a 2-2 stalemate in regulation time, Perak held their nerves to beat Terengganu 3-1 in the penalty shootout at the National Hockey Stadium here yesterday.
It was East Coast side who broke the deadlock first in the 14th minute through Ameer Aiman Saberi, but their celebration was immediately cut short less than a minute later.
Terengganu conceded a penalty corner, which was converted brilliantly by Shazrul Imran Nazli in what looked like a practised goal on the training ground.
But Terengganu regained their lead in the 22nd minute through Syamiru Aiman, who struck from the edge of the semi-circle to slam in the goal.
Both sides threatened to score several times but it was Perak who drew level in the 47th minute through Azrai Aizad’s solid strike from outside the semi-circle that found its way to the net.
With both teams unable to score the winner, it went down to a penalty shootout.
Perak scored three of their first four penalties while Terengganu missed three of their four shots.
Perak goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin made the last save of the shootout and the players in yellow rushed to embrace the hero of the day.
Perak head coach Nizam Mohd Hashim praised the never-say-die attitude of his players, who fought back bravely after trailing in the match twice.
“We started slow and we made several mis- takes that led to the goals by Terengganu but thankfully in the second-half we bounced back,” said Nizam after the match.
“We had a team talk after the first half and we came back, we scored the equaliser and this is the outcome.
“And I believe it was the strong spirited performance of the players in wanting to win it for the state that has led us here, and now our target is accomplished.”
He added that a special session to prepare for the possible outcome of a penalty shootout had paid off.
“We had a session to practise our penalty corners and for the possibility of a shootout and we saw that our players were confident when it came to taking penalties,” he said.
“We are really happy because it is not easy to defend the title – my boys showed indomitable spirit to keep the title in our hands again.”