Asian Games 2018: Razie wants defence to plug the gap
August 21, 2018
Sukan Asia 2018: Catat Dua Kemenangan Berturut-Turut, Lawan Lebih Mencabar Menanti Malaysian Tigers.
August 22, 2018
Malaysia romped to a 10-0 win over Thailand in the second Group B match at the GBK Hockey.
It was an articulate performance form the Malaysians who created enough chances to walk off with a convincing win.
They will now face three of the bigger threat in the group as they seek to cement their place in the semi-finals.
They play Bangladesh next followed by Pakistan and Oman.
National coach Stephen van Huizen said that they have had two good matches to get their moves right and will have to ready for the next three matches.
“Yes, it is pleasing to see them make it easy on themselves. But we face the stronger teams now. It starts with Bangladesh which will be played at 12 noon. The weather will be a factor in the match. But we can make it a little easy of the players finish off their moves well and not get carried away.
“They have to use the lessons from this match as a guide to the next one,” he said.
Malaysia is the top-seeded team in Group B and was expected to win the match easily.
They did not disappoint. It took them six minutes to breach the Thailand defence. Meor Muhamad Azuan scored from a field attempt to set the ball rolling.
Faizal Saari then converted a penalty stroke in the 18th minute followed a minute later by Muhammad Firhan Ashari with a field goal.
Muhammad Razie Abd Rahim scored with a penalty corner in the 20th minute to take his tournament tally to six goals.
Muhammad Azri Hassan and Muhammad Shahril Saabah added the other two goals in the 26th and 27th minutes respectively for a 6-0 first-half score.
Youngster Muhammad Amirul Aideed Mohd Arshad made it 7-0 in the 37th minute. And Shahril Saabah notched his second, Malaysia’s eight in the 40th minute.
Veteran striker Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Abdul Jalil then added a field goal in the 44th minute to give Malaysia a 9-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.
In the 57th minute, Mohd Fitri Saari scored the 10th goal and his first in the tournament.
Malaysia will play Bangladesh in their next match on Friday.
