Malaysia had another easy win, this time beating Thailand 10-0 at the GBK Hockey Stadium in Jakarta.
Coming off a 16-2 win over Kazakhstan in their opening match on Monday, the Malaysians were more disciplined in defense and totally dominated the match, refraining their opponents to a handful of forays into their semi-circle.
Coach Stephen van Huizen was naturally pleased with his charges performance. “I am happy with the performance and this sets us up well for the tougher matches to come. We created chances and that is important as the team is playing well and if we can make use of chances then things will be better for us in tight matches,” said Stephen.
“We are ready to take on Bangladesh despite the fact that we are playing at noon. The heat should not be a factor as we need to display a high level of consistency throughout the match and this will negate the humid conditions. We are as prepared as ever to face the tougher teams after the relatively two east matches”
Malaysia got off to a bright start as Mohd Meor Azuan Hassan scored in the 7th minute. A penalty stroke successfully converted by Faisal Shari gave Malaysia a 2-0 advantage in the 18th minutes. Seconds later it was Firhan Ashaari who inflicted more damage on the Thai’s to take it to 3-0. The five-goal hero in the match against Kazakhstan Razie Rahim steeped up to convert a penalty corner in the 20th minute for a 4-0 lead for Malaysia.
Faisal, however, missed a penalty stroke in the 25th minute to widen their lead. Mohd Azri Hassan was on target in the 27th minute as the Thai’s could not cope with the pace and skills of their opponents with Shahril Saabah scoring the sixth goal. At halftime, Malaysia led 6-0.
Youngster Amirul Aideed made it 7-0 in the 37th minute. And Shahril notched his second, Malaysia’s eight in the 40th minute. Veteran striker Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Jalil finally opened his accounts in the Asian Games in the 44th minute to give Malaysia a 9-0 lead at the end of the third quarter. Playmaker Fitril Saari scores the 10th goal for Malaysia and they were all set to take on tougher opponents in the coming days.
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