International tournament news

08-05 Malaysia hold mighty Korea

2010-5-8

THE national players held Asian champions South Korea to a 1-1 draw in a pulsating match in the 19th Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh yesterday.
 

And the fact that they came back from a goal down, and then held onto the equaliser, signaled better times for the hosts in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games this year.

Malaysia started impressively and played long balls to trouble the Koreans, and there were plenty of anxious moments in the opening minutes to send the 5,000-odd crowd at the Azlan Shah Stadium into a frenzy.

A slick combination between Faizal Saari and Sukri Mutalib won the first penalty corner in the 12th minute, but Amin Rahim's flick was palmed away by goalkeeper Lee Myung Ho.

South Korea finally got their act together and in the 14th minute, off a free hit from the 25-yard line, the ball found Oh Dae Keun who beat goalkeeper S. Kumar.

But after taking the lead, Korea sat back and looked as if they enjoyed watching Malaysia enter their semi-circle with ease.

Faizal was presented a golden opportunity to equalise in the 22nd minute but his shot was parried away by the alert goalkeeper.

Korea won two consecutive penalty corners in the 31st minute, but goalkeeper Kumar brought off diving saves.

However, a poor tackle from Madzli Ikmar gave Korea their third penalty corner in the 34th minute, but Kumar again stood his ground and Malaysia entered the dressing room to plan for the next 35 minutes.

Korea got another chance to increase the lead in the 42nd minute, but yet again Kumar stopped a penalty corner attempt and Malaysia lived to salvage the game.

The hosts were presented a golden opportunity in the 50th minute when Izwan Firdaus was blocked from taking a shot at goal, and the umpire awarded a penalty corner.

Amin Rahim's low push was stopped by the goalkeeper but the ball bounced towards Azlan Misron and the Perak-born player slotted in the equaliser.

But after scoring, Malaysia started defending and the Koreans came close to snatching the lead again as they had the numbers when Shahrun Nabil was sent out for two minutes after receiving a green card.

However, Malaysia held on to share points for a second consecutive match.

In earlier matches, Australia played a game of two halves before beating a stubborn Egypt 4-0, while India beat Pakistan 4-2.

The first half saw Australia struggle to take a 1-0 lead, but after the rain-interrupted 50-minute break, the world champions scored three more goals in the second half.

Grant Schubert (18th), Christopher Ciriello (49th), Matt Ghodes (59th) and Kieran Govers (64th) were on target for Australia, who were playing their first game in Ipoh.

"To a certain extent, the fact that we played South Korea yesterday (Thursday) and then Australia today (yesterday) had us at a disadvantage as Australia were fresh," said Egypt coach Mathias.

Australia's assistant coach Graham Reid paid tribute to the Egyptians.

"Four of my players were making their international debut against Egypt, and naturally, they were a bit slow to settle down. Also, only six players in this team have more than 20 caps, so it was not a bad result.

"However, Egypt deserve praise as it was a very good match."

Egypt goalkeeper Farahat El Razak, who played a crucial role in keeping the score down with daring saves, was named Man-of-the-Match.

NST