KUALA LUMPUR: After lethargic and less than impressive performances in the previous two friendly matches against Olympic champions Argentina, the men’s national hockey squad returned a commendable performance in the fourth of a series of six friendly matches earlier today (Wednesday).
Even though Stephen Van Huizen’s charges have yet to taste victory against the mighty Argentines, they went down fighting and eventually lost 1-2.
In fact Malaysia shocked the hosts when they took the lead early on in the 14th minute through a field goal by Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Abdul Jalil.
However Argentina did not remain behind for long as they levelled the score in the 42nd minute through a Maico Casella penalty corner before Nahuel Salis added a second four minutes later also via a penalty corner.
"We played in hazy conditions in the first quarter but then the weather began to normalise after that.
"The players communicated with each other more this time round and showed determination and better team spirit in trying to gain control of the match.
"We were more resilient as a team this time and we managed to score first through Ahmad Tajuddin.
"However Argentina came back strongly especially in the third quarter,” lamented Van Huizen.
According to Van Huizen, his players did work very hard in trying to score an equaliser after their opponents got back into the game, but their efforts proved futile.
Today’s (Wednesday) loss is the fourth in a row after enduring three earlier defeats, 0-1, 1-6, and 2-7 at the hands of the 2016 Rio Olympics gold medalists.
Malaysia play the Argentines in the fifth friendly match on Friday.
