New Zealand versus Malaysia: Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – Preview
The Black Sticks will face off Malaysia today in the 20th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, being held at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia.
New Zealand
The Black Stick team is currently the second last seeded team in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup with two losses and a draw out of its three appearances.
The team posted an unpleasant impression over their fans with a huge loss in the inaugural match that was played against Pakistan, 2-4. The team gave hope with a tie up against Korea, but their dreams shattered after a recent loss from Great Britain by 1-3.
In this year’s Sultan Azlan Shah Cup appearance, the Black Stick’s squad excluded Phil Burrows and Shea McAleese due to their foreign league commitments therefore, the coach appointed a 223 capped Dean Couzins as the team’s captain. Another new face in the squad is the Capital team’s player Matt L’Huillier who has proven well on the Malaysian ground in terms of delivering goals.
In absence of two senior players, including Simon Child and James Coughlan, who were not invited in the team due to injuries, the team lacks the international experience required for beating down the world’s top-ranked teams.
Overall, New Zealand holds a record of four Sultan Azlan Shah Cup bronze medals in 1995, 2003, 2008 and 2009. In 2009, the team also accomplished the gold-winning title of the Champions Challenge.
Moreover, the Black sticks ended in the third spot in the 2010 Commonwealth Games that were held in New Delhi.
Malaysia
The host team had some shocking changes to the squad, a day before the Malaysian Invitational. Some key players were dropped due to injuries including the defender, Azreen Rizal Nasir, who was injured during the practice match against the Black Sticks on May 1. Another drawback to the team this year is the absence of their penalty-corner specialist, Mohamed Amin Rahim.
This fall-back was also closed with the addition of youngsters from the development Project 2013; including Azammi Adabi and Izzat Mohd Rahim.
Overall, Malaysia has an impressive record of 13 times title win at the South-east Asian Games in 14 of its appearances, with one silver medal finish in 1973. Moreover, Malaysia was the runners-up team of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Malaysia is currently at a 100 percent failure rate with defeats in all the three appearances made in this year’s seven-nation tournament. This team holds the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup record of three times runner-up in 1985, 2007 and 2009 and one time bronze medal win in 1996. Last year, the team made it to the play-offs, but was defeated by Australia, ending up fourth.
Even though, the 15th ranked team has a commendable victory record, but its performance poses an impression of not making it into the qualifying rounds of the Azlan Cup, this year.
Players to watch
From the Malaysian side, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin will be the shine-out in the field that has made a positive first impression since the inaugural day of the match. On the other hand, New Zealand’s Stephen Graham has demonstrated his abilities to the utmost in all the past appearances in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and will be under the spotlight in the match against Malaysia.
Head-to-head Statistics
The last encounter between the two teams was held just few days before the Azlan Cup in a practice match. Both the teams managed a draw at 2-2, but the Black Sticks were stronger and offensive in the ground as compared to the host team.
Prediction
New Zealand will beat Malaysia by 1-0.
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