KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia kicked off their International Hockey Federation (FIH) Men’s Series Finals campaign in style by crushing Brazil 6-0 in a Group B match at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil, on Friday night.
After a scoreless first half (first two quarters), the ‘Speedy Tigers’ opened the score when Nursyafiq Sumantri netted a field goal, two minutes after the breather.
“You need the space to play in second half like this. To Brazil, all the top moments for them is to defend in a match like this. First half was very good although it was tough for us to find the gap,” said national coach Roelant Oltmans in a post-match press conference.
The national side stepped up the tempo and extended the lead when Najmi Jazlan converted a penalty corner in the 38th minute.
Malaysia’s goal spree continued when Fitri Saari converted a penalty corner in 48th minute, followed by Meor Azuan Hassan (53th min), Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal (54th min) and Muhammad Razie Abdul Rahim in the 56th minute.
Asked on their match against China today, Oltmans noted that the team have to be consistent in taking on the pressure.
“As I said previously, all teams to this tournament are well prepared. We can’t underestimate any teams coming to this tournament,” he said.
Earlier in another Group B match, world ranked 32nd, Italy upset China who are ranked 14th with 2-1 win in their opening match.
The outcome of the match was clearly determined by the form of the two teams yesterday.
“Before coming here, we have expected it to be hard but the team played their hearts out. The win is definitely a good result and we also took some risks in the short corners,” said Italy’s coach Roberto Da Gai in a post-match press conference.
The team scored their first goal through Julian Montone who converted a penalty corner in the ninth minute but 20 minutes later, China leveled the score 1-1 via a penalty corner converted by Tu Yuan Lin.
Captain Augustin Nunez scored the winning goal, 11th minutes after the breather.
“I felt very satisfied. We took every chance we have in the game. The result is very good and it is a huge step. We will continue to give a good fight,” said Nunez.
As for China’s coach Kim Sang Ryul, the defeat was an agony for the team as they suffered a setback in their Olympic dreams.
“I am not happy with the boys. I’m confident that they would perform well but they made many mistakes.
“We have no idea of the opponent’s strength,” said Kim.
On the team’s next assignment against Malaysia today, Kim noted that the match is very important to keep their hopes alive to qualify for the Olympics qualifier at the end of this year. – Bernama
