Hockey World Cup: Surprise awaits the Dutch

By SINAR DAILY REPORTER

12 Jan 2023 03:48pm

The national squad remain calm and in high spirits as they prepare to face the Netherlands in their opening FIH World Cup match in Rourkela, India on Saturday

BHUBANESWAR - The final steps of fine-tuning of the national squad under head coach Arul Selvaraj have been set in motion as they prepare to give three-time world champions the Netherlands what they did not expect when they meet in their opening FIH Men's Hockey World Cup match in Rourkela on Saturday.

The squad held a closed door practice match against Spain at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela, but team manager Datuk Mirnawan Nawawi stated what was more important despite the 3-2 defeat was that all players including both goalkeepers in the 25-man squad were handed minutes of play and the players seemed calm and mentally tuned in to the task ahead.

"We used that match against Spain more to test tactical plans we will be using against the Netherlands and Chile. We will go through the details and look at what needs to be improved, especially for the game against the Netherlands," said Mirnawan.

"the players now look calm and communicate a lot on the tactics. Apart from video sessions, we will have one last training session tomorrow before the opening match."

With eight players from the 2018 World Cup squad that lost their opening match 7-0 against the Netherlands present, including then goalkeeper S. Kumar, who is now the goalkeeper coach, Mirnawan said there is a determination within the squad to go out and put in a strong performance and hopes are high that such a result will not be repeated this time around.

"We know the strengths of the Dutch. We need to ensure that we are strong in our defensive area, especially in our D. Our players need to maintain their focus and discipline in their structure and tactical game play. We need to be strong in our ball possession and in one-on-one situations. On top of all that, we must make sure that we need to get something out of every opportunity we create in side the opponents' D," said Mirnawan.

On expectations against the Netherlands on Saturday, Mirnawan said the team aims to start with a strong performance despite the odds stacked against them.

"We want to start with a strong performance, which is important asit will give us the momentum to bring into the subsequent matches against Chile and New Zealand," said Mirnawan.

Malaysia enter their ninth appearance at the FIH World Cup in Pool C, where they face the Netherlands at the Birsa Munda Stadium on Saturday and return to the same venue to face Chile in their second match on Monday. They conclude the preliminary round by travelling to Bhubaneswar to face New Zealand at the Kalinga Stadium next Wednesday.

Malaysia last progressed beyond the preliminary round at the World Cup in 2002, when the tournament was held in Kuala Lumpur.