MALAYSIA MUST COLLECT THREE POINTS AGAINST PAKISTAN, OR ELSE ...
Malaysia must make amends in second tie
ONCE bitten, twice shy.
After a 0-7 rout by world No. 3 Holland in the opening Group D match at the Kalinga Stadium last Saturday, the Malaysian hockey players are anything but demoralised.
Defender Muhd Razie Abdul Rahim said that they have learned a bitter lesson against Holland and don’t want to make the same mistakes twice.
“It was painful to lose by such a big margin against Holland. We hope to overcome it and recover our spirit and play a better game,” said Razie.
Malaysia need to collect full points against Pakistan today to finish in the top three to qualify for the second round.
“The match against Pakistan is crucial for us as we need to collect full points. If we fail to do so then our chances of qualifying for the second round will be virtually over as Germany have three points and have a better goal difference than us,” said Razie, who is a penalty corner specialist.
In their first group match last Saturday, fourtime world champions Pakistan played well against Germany before going down 1-0.
Forward Faizal Saari said they want to win back the fans’ faith by playing a good game.
“It will be a tough match as Pakistan too will be going all out to beat us to move to the next round. But we vow to fight for every ball and make full use of the chances.
“We also need to create as many penalty corners as we only had one penalty corner against Holland,” said Faizal, who also failed to score in his first World Cup in The Hague in 2014.
Pakistan forward Umar Bhutta said the Malaysian players are mentally hurt after the match against Holland.
“They will be going with guns blazing against us. But we are ready to take them on as we too want a win over them to stay in contention for a place in the next round,” said Umar.
“Our matches against them have always been close and it will be no different tomorrow. We have the psychological advantage as we have beaten them three times this year,” said Umar.
Malaysia’s first defeat to Pakistan was in the group match of the Asian Games in Jakarta in August (4-1).
In October in the Asian Champions Trophy, Pakistan beat Malaysia 1-0 in the round robin match and they also won the bronze playoff with 3-1 win in a penalty shootout after both teams played to a 4-4 draw.