Malaysia defeats Sri Lanka by 14-0 in Junior Asia Cup semi-final
The Malaysians junior boys finally managed to capture the top spot on points table after they defeated Sri Lanka by 14-0 in their final match of the group stages on June 23.
The Malaysians required a gigantic victory in order to stay away from playing Pakistan, the defending champion, who had defeated them by 4-3 in the previous event which was held in Yangon, Myanmar, two years ago in 2009.
Although Malaysia scored seven points in their group matches having two victories and one draw, yet they have equal points to South Korea who also won two of their three matches with a game, which ended in a draw. But it was the massive victory against Sri
Lanka that led them to the first place in their group due to the better goal difference with 17 goals, six more than South Korea’s 11.
The match started with a clear Malaysian dominance, which lasted till the end as Malaysia scored 14 goals, which means a goal after every five minutes on average. They showed a match-less performance to the Islanders who remained goal-less in the match.
The Malaysian junior team coach, K Gobinathan, looked very pleased and showed a great admiration for his players on this dominant victory over the Islanders.
“Although we did not have the services of national forward Mohd Firhan Ashaari, who is in Europe on a playing tour with the national team, we still managed a double digit score. My boys went all to attack right from the start and I am delighted that they
took their chances really well,” K Gobinathan, the Malaysian coach, stated his views on telephone after the important victory.
At the same time Gobinathan also has some doubt on the fitness of his players, who have been quite busy in the fields since last two to three months.
“Pakistan and Korea are a class above the rest here, but I am afraid that my players might hit a bad patch at the wrong time. That is why we can’t even take Singapore light in the semis,” Gobinathan further stated about his boys.
The Malaysians will now face Singapore, relatively an easy opposition as compared to Pakistan, in the second semi-final tomorrow on June 25, while the record-setting Greenshirts, who have made 53 successful strikes in four matches, will be up against South
Korea in the first semi-final of the day.
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