The Malaysian men’s hockey team slumped to a 2-4 defeat against the Belgium national ‘B’ team in their second friendly match at Sportentrum Wilrijkse Plein (Sports and Leisure venue) in Antwerp today.
Head coach Sarjit Singh’s Speedy Tigers were down by three goals at the end of the first half. The Belgians asserted their early dominance in the game and capitalized on penalty corner conversions in the 11th, 22nd and 26th minutes.
Despite Belgium’s pressure, the Malaysians came back all guns blazing in the third quarter when they won a penalty corner. Forward Faizal Saari placed the ball in the net in the 31st minute as the Speedy Tigers closed the gap at 1-3.
“Today we had four penalty corners and converted two. That sums up to a 50 per cent conversion rate while our opponents had nine penalty corners and converted four,” said Sarjit.
“In the first and second quarters we did not play to our strength and allowed Belgium to score three goals. Our playing structure was much better in the second half that saw the team scoring two goals through Faizal. We had many goal-scoring opportunities but our finishing was not effective,” he added.
The match continued with intense back-and-forth action in the fourth quarter. The Malaysians found the back of the net again through Faizal’s penalty corner conversion in the 55th minute to reduce the deficit to 2-3.
It was Faizal’s third goal in two friendly matches against Belgium. The Malaysians won 3-2 in the first match on July 1.
Belgium, ranked World No 3, extended the lead to 4-2 from a penalty corner goal with two minutes remaining at the end of regulation time.
The Malaysians and Belgians will play a third friendly match on July 5 at the same venue that concludes the Malaysians itinerary in Belgium. The team will then travel to Monchengladbach, Germany on July 6 for the second phase of their Europe tour.
They will play a test match on July 7 against the Germans, ranked World No 5, at the Glabach Hockey and Tennis Club, and followed by a friendly match against Monchengladbach Hockey Club on July 9.
