IPOH – National hockey head coach Sarjit Singh slammed his team’s performance against South Korea despite winning their final pool match 1-0 at the Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium in Ipoh last night.
The 61-year-old coach, brought in by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation on a two-year contract, described his team’s performance as the “worst” among the five games they have played so far in this year’s Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
The lacklustre match, which attracted approximately 5,000 fans, saw a total of 38 attacks launched by the Speedy Tigers in a match that should have seen Sarjit’s boys scoring at least two goals in each of the four quarters.
Sarjit said that his players should start making it count if they hope to be a formidable side in the years to come.
“I think this was the worst game we have played so far, and we were really lucky to even win. The boys ran too much with the ball, and our players did not create enough space in the match.
“Once again, we had many chances but failed to finish them. We could have easily won this game with more than one goal.
“On top of that, we were also lucky that our goalkeeper Hafizuddin Othman showed up and saved all the Korea penalty corners.
“If any of those had gone in, the game would have been different. Although I’m not happy with the game, I’m still happy with the result.
“But our inconsistency issues have been recurring over the five matches, but I do understand that this is a team that’s newly formed.
“Hence I believe that in the time to come, we really need to start working on our flaws to become a stronger side in the future,” said Sarjit during a post-match conference.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s head coach Min Tae-seok said he was not happy with his players for not converting any of the seven penalty corners they received in the match.
The Taegeuks, who have won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on three occasions (1996, 2010, and 2019), entered the invitational tournament with zero expectations and mainly aimed to give exposure to their squad, with an average age of 26.
“We put in so much hard work to earn the penalty corners but failed to score any. This is not a good sign for our team, and we really need to work hard on this if we hope to become better.
“But more than that, we were not playing as a unit, and that was what cost us the game today.
“We need to work on these and play well in our fifth and sixth-place classification match against Canada tomorrow (later today),” said Tae-seok.
Malaysia took the lead early through Akhimullah Anuar Esook, who scored in the seventh minute.
The 24-year-old came close to extending the lead in the third quarter, but instead of finishing of the shot, he squandered it by flicking it over the goalpost.
The Speedy Tigers will be taking on New Zealand for the second time in the ongoing Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in the third and fourth classification match later today.
The last time both sides met was during their third pool match, which ended with a 6-4 win for Malaysia.
Malaysia and New Zealand have clashed 27 times since the 1975 Kuala Lumpur Hockey World Cup, with New Zealand having a higher winning percentage of 48.15%. – May 11, 2024