Project 2013 squad suffer third straight loss

KUALA LUMPUR: The Project 2013 squad lost their third friendly – going down 4-2 to the Belgium national juniors – at the Denetage Hockey Club in Antwerp on Tuesday.

The national juniors – who are preparing for the Junior World Cup in Chandigarh, India, from Dec 6-15 – lost the first two matches to their Belgian counterparts 4-2 and 7-0 respectively.

On Tuesday, European champions Belgium started off well by taking a 2-0 lead with quickfire goals in the 18th and 19th minutes.

But Malaysia, who won the Junior Asia Cup in Malacca last year, fought back to equalise through Rashid Baharom, off a penalty corner rebound in the 23rd minute, and Nor Aqmal Ghaffar five minutes later, off yet another penalty corner.

After the breather, the hosts added another two goals – in the 46th minute off a penalty corner and in the 59th minute with a field goal.

Three Malaysian players – Azrul Hasbullah (45th), G. Kavin Khartik (64th) and Azri Hassan (65th) – were shown the yellow card in the second-half for rough tackles.

Team manager Mirnawan Nawawi was unhappy with the umpire’s decision to send three Malaysian players to the sin bin after the breather as “it cost us the match”.

“Overall, they were very good practice matches for the team ... they definitely gave us an insight into the Belgian team’s strength,” he said.