Second Win for Malaysia

Malaysia came out firing from the first whistle. They ran the Canadians wide then took them on through the centre. The Canadians had a hard time getting a stick on the ball and hardly had any possession. At the fourth minute, Malaysia scored through Faizal Saari with a diving deflection.

With 28 minutes remaining in the first half, the yellow and black secured their first penalty corner but fired high and wide.
Canada took possession of the ball for the next few minutes but failed to make any headway in the Malaysian half.

After a poor tackle in the D, the Canadians secured their first penalty corner. It was fired waist-high to the keeper’s right who managed to save it. The ball was then swept up by Canada’s Adam Froese who lifted it into the goal levelling the score 1-1. The fans then began their drumming and chanting to motivate the Malaysian team to push on.

Using their physical strength, the Canadians muscled their way onto the ball. As emotions ran high, in the 24th minute, Faizal was yellow-carded and Malaysia were reduced to ten men for five minutes.

In the second half, the Canadians repeatedly pushed the locals off the ball. With so many lightweight players on the Malaysian side, it was difficult to compete physically but the boys never gave up running. They were rewarded with a penalty corner in the 46th minute, and the ball was skilfully controlled and smashed home by Faizal Saari, giving Malaysia a 2-1 lead.

With just minutes to go, Malaysia were still pressing forward, looking for a third goal, and were rewarded at the 67th minute when the ball found the net via Ahmad Nasruddin, giving Malaysia a clear cut 3-1 win over Canada.

Malaysia will face China on Wed, March 19.