Malaysia defeat Real Club de Polo in Barcelona by 4-2
In a bid to establish their dominance, the national hockey team of Malaysia emerged victorious over Real Club de Polo by two goals, 4-2 in the first Test of the seven-match series during the Europe Tour that took place in Barcelona.
Stephen van Huizen, the Acting Manager of the Malaysian hockey team while speaking to the media, stated that if they had converted all the chances earned in the game, they could have tested the reserve players in the upcoming fixtures. He stated, “If we
had capitalized on our lead and chances we would have been able to give more rest to our starting players and more playing time to our bench instead of having to put in more energy and effort to get the win.”
Coach of the national side, Tai Beng Hai, was of the opinion that their aim was to test all the players in the tour, as they can play more and more games against the best squads. He further stated that they also had been working to improve the fitness of
youngsters.
The Malaysian team dominated the field with the ball possession from the very early minutes of the match. In a result of back-to-back strikes, the Malaysian team earned the first goal of the day in the 9th minute. Nabil Fikri Mohd received a pass
from Hafifi on the right flank and chipped it into the goal against Real Club. Following the first goal, the players from Real Club, particularly the defenders stiffened their game and denied several efforts.
In the 29th minute of the match, Hafifihafiz Hanafi took a rebound, which was attempted by Izwan, and executed a well-organised shot at the goal, increasing the tally up to two goals, 2-0. However, the players from Real Club were not sitting idle
and declined the edge in the 30th minute. Roger Padros scored a goal from the field effort and brought his team into the score-net. The first half of play concluded with Malaysia holding a single goal advantage.
The play in the second half resumed with both the teams playing more aggressively. Padros made a lengthy run towards the down-field and took the ball into the defensive circle of Malaysia. He notched his and as well team’s second goal to tie the knots at
2-2.
The tie-up was enough to awaken the Malaysian side which obtained another couple of goals in the remaining time-period and won the game. In the 58th minute of the game, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin got the ball at the left flank and slammed it into the
net. With three minutes left on the clock, Azami Adabi received a pass from Hafifi and scored a goal to seal a 4-2 victory for Malaysia.
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