KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — The national men’s hockey squad squandered a two-goal advantage early in the game to lose 2 – 3 to South Korea in the second match of a friendly tour series held at the Jingcheon National Training Centre in Incheon.
Experienced striker Faizal Saari scored a field goal in the fifth minute to put A. Arul Selvaraj’s squad ahead before Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal doubled the lead in the 12th minute.
However, the Speedy Tigers’ joy was short-lived as the home team got onto the scoresheet in the 45th minute from a penalty corner, and equalised with a field goal just a minute later.
South Korea confirmed their first victory in the tour series through a field goal six minutes from time. The teams drew 2 – 2 in the opening fixture on Wednesday.
Despite the loss, Arul Selvaraj in a video shared by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) with the media said he is satisfied with the performance of his players, especially young defenders Muhammad Syafiq Hassan and Muhajir Abdu Rauf.
“Overall, it was a good individual performance, even though we used a new structure, it looked like the players were mature and comfortable. We will rest and prepare tomorrow night for the next game on June 25,” he said.
The friendly tour series until June 28 is also part of the national team’s preparations ahead of the Asian Champions Trophy from August 3 to August 12 in Chennai, India.
— Bernama
