Malaysia have kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the 2014 Rabobank Hockey World Cup by defeating Pakistan 3-1 in their 5-8 placement meeting in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on Saturday.
The win sets up a 5-6 placement match against Japan, shoot-out winners over South Africa earlier in the day. Pakistan and South Africa will compete in the 7-8 play-off game.
Malaysia have kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the 2014 Rabobank Hockey World Cup by defeating Pakistan 3-1 in their 5-8 placement meeting here in Johor Bahru. The win sets up a 5-6 placement match against Japan, victors over South Africa earlier in the day.
As there is a very real possibility that a fifth place finish here in Johor could result in a berth at the World Cup, today’s result ensures that the meeting between the hosts and Japan will have an enormous amount of meaning for everyone involved.
Paul Revington’s men were in terrific form in the contest against the world number 5 ranked team, and drew first blood in the 14th minute when Muhammad Razie Adbul Rahim arrowed a penalty corner drag-flick into the bottom left corner.
However, Pakistan were level just two minutes later when Shafqat Rasool clipped in after a stunning passing move, but a mistake from goalkeeper Imran Butt resulted in an Own Goal in the 19th minute to re-establish the Malaysian advantage.
Malaysia extended their lead three minutes into the second half when Tengku Ahmad Tajudin Abdul Jalil slapped the ball into an open goal after an impressive move down the right, leaving Pakistan with a mountain to climb.
Pakistan came agonisingly close to reducing the deficit in the 54th minute when Muhammad Imran rattled the post with a brilliant penalty corner effort, before Abdul Haseem Khan fired wide with a diving shot two minutes later.
The Greenshirts battled hard throughout, but Malaysia were simply the better team on the day and will be greatly looking forward to their meeting with Japan on Sunday. Pakistan will play South Africa in the 7-8 placement game.
South Africa – Japan 2-2 (0-1) (Shoot-out: 0-1)
Japan have booked their place in the 5-6 place play-off match thanks to a penalty shoot-out victory over South Africa at the Hockey World League Semi Final in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Full time finished with the scores locked at 2-2, with Japan winning a bizarre shoot-out which saw nine out of the ten attempts fail. Kei Kawakami scored with the very final attempt, giving Japan a shot at a fifth place finish.
The result means that the team from Asia have kept alive their chances of achieving a top five finish at this tournament, something which may well be enough to land a place at the 2014 Rabobank Hockey World Cup.
Argentina beat England in semis, Germany defeat Korea
World number ten Argentina continued their glorious run in the Hockey World League Semi Final competition with a brilliant 3-1 win over fourth ranked England. The victory puts them into Sunday’s tournament final where they will face Germany which beat Korea 3-1 in the other semi-final. Korea will play England for 3rd place.
By sealing a top three finish at this event, Argentina’s participation in the 2014 Rabobank Hockey World Cup is confirmed.
The South Americans produced a stunning first half performance, dominating their higher ranked opponents for much of the period. It took them less than three minutes to register the first goal, with Facundo Callioni diverting a ferocious cross from Juan Martin Lopez into George Pinner’s goal from close range. The lead was doubled four minutes later through Juan Garreta, who took advantage of England’s failure to effectively clear their lines before Gonzalo Peillat slammed home a trade-mark penalty corner drag-flick to give Argentina a 3-0 lead inside 11 minutes.
England certainly improved as the half progressed, but failed to seriously test Argentina shot-stopper Juan Vivaldi. That all changed 14 minutes into the second half when Vivaldi made two brilliant blocks from a penalty corner before Nick Catlin volleyed the ball into the top corner to give England a life-line, but it proved to be the only goal that they would score in the game.
