Speedy tigers need to artfully control tempo of the match - Marhan
14 Aug 2023 08:33pm
Hockey pucks - picture for illustrative purposes - FILE PIX
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In fact, he believes that based on the performance against world number three India at the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) on Saturday, the national side would be able to create history and become champions of the Asian Games for the very first time this September.
In the ACT final in Chennai, the Speedy Tigers, who are ranked ninth in the world, almost upstaged hosts India when they led 3-1 in the first half, before narrowly losing 3-4.
"India are always in top form because they play a lot against teams with a high-tempo, so we need to be good at controlling the game so that we don’t follow their pace, let them follow ours. We have sent the message in the final that we are capable of scoring goals, but we must avoid conceding.
"Usually the pressure is higher on the team leading than the team chasing it. If we were careful when we took the lead, maintained the momentum like in the first half and reduce picking up cards, we could have overcome them,” he said yesterday.
The 33-year-old midfielder also praised his teammates for a wonderful performance, and hoped they could maintain the momentum to win gold at the upcoming 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from Sept 23 to Oct 8.
The gold medal at the Asian Games is very important for Malaysia as it would confirm an early qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The last time Malaysia competed at the Olympics was in Sydney in 2000.
Meanwhile, head coach A. Arulselvaraj believes his men can emerge champions in Hangzhou, if they continued to improve, especially against teams like India.
"I think India are a superb team because they always play against the best teams in the world, play in the Pro League where the tempo of the game is fast. That’s why we want to play against teams like Australia, Holland and Belgium.
"However, in my view, we are better than India in several aspects such as our organisation on the field, positioning and team play,” he said.
Malaysia have been drawn in Group B at the 2022 Asian Games, along with South Korea, China, Oman, Thailand and Indonesia, while India are in Group A with Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Uzbekistan.
Only the top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
Malaysia has twice finished as runners-up at the Asiad, namely in the 2010 and 2018 editions - BERNAMA
