New Zealand confident to put up a good show at the Azlan Shah Cup - Hockey Update
In view of the big challenge ahead in the next 14 months, New Zealand will bring-in hopes if they return home with the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, starting from May 5-15, in Ipoh, Malaysia.
The team’s Head Coach, Shane McLeod, admitted the fact that the team will have to put in a lot of effort once they secure a new achievement for themselves, during their path towards the 2012 London Olympics.
Few of the regular squad members are missing from the current team and their space has been filled up by the young players. The Black Sticks will learn a lot in terms of international experience while playing against six teams, which are rated in world’s
top-ten.
McLeod, said, “We are the third highest ranked team going into the tournament, but we are missing some key players and we have a young side, so we need to be realistic about our chances.”
The team has recently played two out of their three scheduled practice matches on April 30 and May 1, against the Under-21 Malaysian team and the senior Malaysian team, respectively.
New Zealand won their first game against the youth team convincingly with a 6-0 margin, whereas their match against the National team resulted in a 2-2 draw.
The Kiwis had two training sessions yesterday, to get set for the Azlan Cup Invitational, following which they will play their last practice match against India, the next day.
The Malaysian tournament will conduct matches amongst world’s best hockey teams including World Champions Australia, the 2010 Asian Games Champions Pakistan, host Malaysia, India, Great Britain and South Korea.
The Azlan Cup’s opening day will feature New Zealand against Pakistan on May 5.
McLeod added, “One of the big advantages in playing in the Azlan Shah, is that you get to play against a range of teams that have varying styles and for young players this is extremely valuable, especially as we work to build depth leading up to the Olympics.”
Due to the unavailability of star players Shea McAleese and Phil Burrows for the Azlan Cup, Dean Couzins, who has 223 international caps has been selected among the final eighteen. The Auckland player has also been appointed as the team's Captain, with regard
to his considerable international experience.
Another player from the capital team Wellington, Matt L’Huillier, has been asked to join the team. The appointment resulted because two injured players, James Coughlan and Simon Child, failed to recover themselves in time.
The 23-year-old included in the squad has played the two practice matches and hopefully, is all set for the upcoming tournament from Thursday onwards.
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