‘Pizza boys’ starting to deliver results

what is so special about this “Italian pizza” serving up a storm at Bukit Jalil?

It seems a healthy dose of toppings from Argentina, Belgium and Spain is the secret to Italy’s success in the ongoing FIH Series Finals.

Here's more food for thought. The Italians are ranked an unnoteworthy World No 32, and they trained together for only five days before coming to this preOlympic qualifier.

And oh yes, they also did not play any international matches or friendlies this year.

Assimilation was the key word, as the Italian side came up with six Argentinians, two Belgians and a Spaniard naturalised.

Lest we forget, skipper Agustin Nunez played in that famous 4-4 draw with Malaysia at the Kakamigahara Olympic Qualifier in 2008.

And oh yes, the coach back in Japan was the same one as well — Robert Da Ga.

After all these years, Nunez started the tournament with only 67 international caps, the highest in the team. This indicates how little the Italians are exposed to top-notch hockey.

In Kuala Lumpur, after three giant killing feats and topping Group A, they are just a step away from playing in the second round of the Olympic Qualifier in November.

“Some players are Italian-Argentines who play in Italian first division clubs. Others in the Belgian league. But all are part of a project of growing years of work with Italy,” revealed former Malaysia international S. Selvaraju.

Selvaraju has been living, playing and coaching youth in Italy for many years.

Italy has young talents like Pietro Lago and Francesco Mitrotta playing in the Belgian championship.

But still, this is no excuse for Malaysia to lose in their backyard against Italy.

In contrast, Malaysian hockey players train and play for at least 200 days a year, and they receive every possible support from the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC).

The players only have to show up in their underwear, so to speak, while the MHC spoon-feed them with all the other things.

These include: foreign chief coach, goalkeepers coach, penalty corner specialist coach, help from National Sports Institute, financial support from National Sports Council, support from Sports Ministry and support from Tenaga Nasional. And the list of help goes on...

For all the support from so many parties, the national team still cooked up a lousy dish for their fans, tournament after tournament.

From now, the Malaysian players will feel a bitter taste everytime they eat pizza — the bitter taste of defeat by Italy is difficult to expunge.