POOR UMPIRING, WAKE UP FIH

Malaysia has lodged a complaint with regards to the standard of umpiring in their match against New Zealand, which they lost 4-2.

While it was not a formal protest, team manager George Koshy made his point clear to Tournament Director Satinder Dhillon that Malaysia were victims of poor umpiring decisions.

The Malaysian camp was incensed with the two set of rules applied by the umpires, Colin Hutchinson of Ireland and Marcin Grochal of Poland, both of whom were guilty of letting off players from the home team for tackles and unsporting like behavior.

Dean Couzins should have been sent off for mocking Azlan Misron with monkey sounds after the Kiwis scored the second goal. However Grochal opted to give him a verbal warning though the incident occurred right in front of him.

However the Malaysians were punished for rather innocuous incidents that did not warrant yellow cards had the umpires been fair in their approach towards the match.

The two yellow cards that the Malaysian camp is disputing were flashed to Mohd Shukri Abdul Mutalib and skipper Mohd Madzli Ikmar in the 56th and 70th minutes respectively.

While Shukri received the card for a harsh decision of playing the ball above his shoulder, the incident involving Madzli was more bizarre.

Jiwa Mohan and Simon Child were involved in a scuffle that saw players from both sides sizing each other up, with a lot of shoving and pushing. The two umpires lost the plot and tried to figure out who the two players that started the fracas.

And since the rules imply that the skipper was responsible towards the conduct of his players, Madzli who at that time was on the bench, was shown the yellow card. As a result Malaysia had to withdraw a player from the pitch and Azlan Misron left the field.

But none of the New Zealand players were sent off for the incident, which showed that the umpires were not fit to umpire a match of such importance.

KIWI POLISH FOR MALAYSIA

The fighting spirit was evident and the performance a few notches better then what was displayed against the likes of Austria and Wales. But Malaysia ended up on the losing end and in the process were left with a mathematical chance to make the World Cup next year.

And with fate no longer in their hands, Malaysia can only hope that New Zealand field their best team against China on Thursday and win while Malaysia has to win at all costs against China on Saturday to make the final and have a shot for the World Cup.

“We were on the receiving end of some poor decisions by the umpires,” said coach Tai Beng Hai.

“When we drew level, we had control of the match but the umpires started making decisions that rattled our players. After that our players started losing their focus and allowed soft goals.

“We may have lost the battle today and there is still the war to be won. So winning the next two matches will give us a chance to face New Zealand again and try win the berth to New Delhi.”

Malaysia may have paid a heavy price in the defeat as skipper Mohd Madzli Ikmar limped off after being struck on the thigh and could be doubtful for the crucial clash against Scotland on Thursday.

New Zealand took a 2-0 lead in the opening ten minutes, thanks to goals by Simon Child in the 6th minute and Phillip Burrows in the 10th minute. While Simon’s goal was as a result of a neat penalty corner variation, the second goal conceded was a result of poor marking.

But for once in the tournament Malaysia showed their mental strength, reducing the deficit via Azlan Misron in the 30th minute.

After the break, it was a different Malaysian team. S. Selvarajoo, who played a total of five minutes in the last two matches, showed his skills to break free on the right to lay a pass to youngster Faisal Saari to draw Malaysia level in the 44th minute.

However a mistake by Mohd Amin Rahim resulted in a penalty corner in the 52nd minute, which Hayden Shaw dispatched with ease to give the Black Sticks a 3-2 lead. Simon consolidated the lead in the 62nd minute and Malaysia has a mountain to climb.

TWO CRUCIAL MATCHES

The Malaysian team have another 140 minutes to get their act right and make the final on Sunday. Failure to make the final, and be presented with a second chance will be a disaster, not unexpected though.

Read about the match against NZ in The Malay Mail tomorrow or at this blog after 8am Malaysin time for some news live from Invercargill.

Heads are bound to roll....but whose...

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS-DAY THREE RESULTS

Result

New Zealand 4

6th minute - Ryan Archibald - PC
10th minute - Phillip Burrows - FG
52nd Minute - Hayden Shaw
62nd minute - Simon Child - FG

Malaysia

30th minute - Azlan Misron - PC
44th minute - Faisal Saari - FG

China 2

47th minute - Liu Yixian - PC

57th minute - Na Yubo - FG

Wales 1

44th minute - Andrew Cornick - FG


Austria 2

27th minute - Peter Proksch - PC
59th minute - Michael Korper - PC

Scotland 3

37th minute - Ross Stott - FG
61st minute - Kenneth Bain-FG
66th minute - Mark Ralph - PC

CRUCIAL MATCH

The difference between Malaysia and New Zealand is that while the latter has successfully blended youth and experience, Malaysia are still experimenting.

Malaysia has three players who featured in the Junior World Cup in Johor Baru. They are Faisal Saari, Mohd Marhan Mohd Jalil and Ahmad Kazamirul Nasruddin. Except for Faisal who comes on as a substitute, the remaining two warm the bench most of the time.

In contrast New Zealand have four players from the JWC in the squad. Hugo Inglis and Simon Child are in the starting XI while four goal hero against Scotland Nicholas Wilson and Arun Panchia have made an impact in the matches they played.

Coach Tai Beng Hai is well aware that a defeat at the hand of the hosts could well knock Malaysia out of contention for a place in the final this Sunday, and effectively shutting the door on our World Cup aspirations.

Malaysia lost three and drew two matches when the team played New Zealand in the 5 Test Matches last August and Beng Hai is optimistic that Malaysia can match the Kiwis this time around.

But above all he needs to find a solution to get the team to perform to their true capability. And most of all he has to get the team to be consistent throughout the match and prevent a second half switch off, as was the case in the two matches.

“It is make or break for us and the players realize how important the match is,” said Beng Hai.

“We have yet to play to our capabilities and are running out of matches, and the dropped points against Austria has put a dent in our hopes.

“Still I believe we have what it takes to beat the Kiwis and stay in the hunt for a place in the World Cup.

The fact that as hosts New Zealand opted to play this match so late in the evening, (6.00pm local time) shows that there is an element of fear for the Malaysians. But going by the Malaysian performances in their two matches thus far, a 2-2 draw with Austria and 2-1 win over Wales, the Kiwis should win hands down.

Especially since the Black Sticks have scored an awesome 14 goals in two matches.

Malaysia are a pale shadow of the team that played in the Asia Cup and the Test Matches against Australia three weeks ago. The sudden transformation has the Black Sticks coach puzzled as well.

“Malaysia has the uncanny nature of raising their game when playing with tougher opponents,” said the Black Sticks coach Shane McLeod.

“When they play teams like Austria and Wales, the Malaysian players seem lost as they have to take the game to their opponents.

“And this is why Malaysia finds it difficult to play teams that in the lower rankings. I believe that Malaysia has yet to display their best form and we are wary that they might just get it right against us.”

“They are technically sound when defending and it will take a huge effort to break them down. But I believe we should be able to get all three points.”

The next 70 minutes will determine if Beng Hai and his boys have a further role to play in the qualifiers or join the ranks of Wales and Scotland as the also rans.

MADZLI TALKS

Skippers Corner

Mohd Madzli Ikmar

The two matches, against Austria and Wales have been a case pf reality check for us as we struggled against teams that we could defeat with ease in the past.

And the players got together after the Wales match and we had a chat on areas that we need to improve on.

The most vital area is communication on the pitch as there is a tendency to just keep quiet instead of asking for the ball.

Back to the match against New Zealand, we are aware that we take the field as underdogs and are okay with that tag as there is less pressure on us.

Having played New Zealand in August, we know their strengths as well as weakness and playing a familiar foe has its advantages as there will not be an element of surprise.

The forwards have to start making use of the chances that come their way as we just cannot defend all the time. Creating penalty corners is something that we lack and I do hope we can get some in this match as we have good variations that can result in goals.

Technically we can match the home team and it is the mental state that we need to conquer as we have what it takes to win the match and keeping on track our aspirations to play in the World Cup next year.

The weather has been unkind, but lets take the wind out of the picture and go for a win.

LUCKY MALAYSIANS

While the Malaysians have the best in terms of preparation and participation, they should look at things other teams go through just to be at the World Cup Qualifiers here in Invercargill.

Wales had to fund their way to the qualifiers with each player having to fork out 1,600 pounds each, which works out to approximately RM10,000 each.

And with none of the players being professionals, they had to take leave from their jobs and in the process some of them lose out more financially.

On the other hand, the Malaysians train full time, have two cooks to prepare their meals, a nutritionist to look into their dietary requirements, a masseur, a physiotherapist and a Medical Assistant to look into their health issues.

“We do not have a huge amount of funding and most of it is used up for participation in the European tournaments,” said Welsh coach Zak Jones.

“We aim to gain experience and gain promotion into the Euro Hockey Nations Championships as we are in the second division right now. And after that it is the Commonwealth Games that we aim to do well in.”