Goalkeeper Muhammad Danish Aiman kept his nerves to take the Malaysia into a sudden-death shootout against New Zealand that ended with the Kiwis pulling off 4-3 victory in the 11-12th classification match following a 2-2 draw in regulation time in the Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup today.
The 21-year-old Danish grabbed the limelight in the second half of the match until the final hooter after coach Amin Rahim rested first-choice custodian Mohamad Rafaizal.
The score was 2-1 when Danish came on, and credit to him for keeping New Zealand from scoring on several occasions with his timely, fine saves.
He excelled in the penalty shootout only to be let down when we failed to convert when it mattered most.
“It was a good experience for me again. I was not expecting to be fielded, but when the moment came, I knew I had to do my very best,” said Danish at a post-match press conference.
“It was a big match. Everything depended on how I performed in the shootout. I am happy with this experience and exposure.” ”
The Malaysians bowed out of the 13th Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup with dignity and pride intact despite going down against New Zealand at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil this afternoon.
This is the third time the Young Tigers finished in 12th position (2001 and 2009) in the JWC. They finished fourth in 1979, 1982, and 2013.
Both teams started the match on equal footing, and it was only a matter of time before hockey fans would witness the first goal.
And as it turned out, New Zealand took the lead through a penalty corner conversion by Luke Aldred in the fourth minute. But the lead was short-lived as Ashraf Adam equalised for Malaysia two minutes later from open play.
New Zealand, however, held their nerves, and Sam Lints netted the second goal in the 9th minute from open play to go 2-1 ahead. The start of the first half was delayed for 20 minutes due to lightning and rain.
The Young Tigers threw in everything to find the equaliser and were duly rewarded for their determination when Shamir Shamsul scored the equaliser in the 57th minute through a field goal to force the match into a shootout.
The Malaysians and Kiwis had five equal circle penetrations in the first half, but New Zealand had six shots at goal compared to four by the hosts.
The Young Tigers recent meeting with New Zealand was at the Sultan of Johor Cup in Johor Bahru where New Zealand won 3-2 in a pool match.
Aaron Ford, New Zealand coach, said:
“It was an experience for New Zealand that the players won’t forget. We are not used to having a large number of local crowds cheering for Malaysia, and it was a good exposure. We knew we had to play right till the end.
We gave Malaysia one too many chances in the match and they kept the pressure on us in the second half. It was a tough moment keeping the forwards at bay. We believed we could finish in the top eight, but that did not happen. We really had a good time in Malaysia and this World Cup is going to be something the players will cherish.”
Amin Rahim, Malaysia coach, said:
“Overall, the players gave their best in this Junior World Cup and this is the result that we must accept. I always believe in this team. The players have the potential to move forward. Of course the demand to be in the national senior team is always higher and they have to work harder to realise their ambition.
In reality, I never expected we would be playing in the 11-12th classification. I was always confident we would stay in the top 10. I am disappointed we did not beat Belgium in the 9-16 classification match earlier. We should have won that match. It would have made a lot of difference in our final position in this Junior World Cup.
