Malaysian Field Hockey

We used to be among the world's top 4, but now...

These were the top 3 finishers of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) 1994
#1: Maybank 15-14-0-1-68-11
#2: YNS 15-14-0-1-64-9
#3: MBf 15-12-1-2-71-13
In the league, YNS 1-0 Maybank
In the Cup Final, Maybank 2-0 MBf
These teams were almost equal in strength and heads & shoulders above the rest of the crowd. How else can you explain the average of 4+ goals scored per game for all the teams above? Maybank pipped Maybank to the league cup by a mere 2 goals. MBf had the best goal difference with 58!
However, a few months later we played Pakistan in a few friendlies. Our team were jam-packed with stars from the above three teams. And the results?
Match 1: Pakistan 6-2 Malaysia; news report: "Pakistanis too speedy & skilful"
Match 2: Pakistan 5-1 Malaysia; news report: "Malaysians lacking fitness"
In another match, Malaysia beat Australia 3-1 (with Nor Saiful Zaini) but later lost 0-4 (without Nor Saiful Zaini). Really, does one player make THAT much difference?

The top 3 finishers MHL 1995 were exactly the same, and the statistics showed that they were too good for the others:

#1: Maybank 14-13-1-0
#2: MBf 14-13-1-0
#3: YNS
Cup semis: TNB 2-0 Maybank, Maybank 1-0 TNB; YNS beat MBf
3&4: MBf 3-0 Maybank
Final: YNS 3-2 TNB

Asian Games 1994

1-3 Kazakhstan "we played like schoolboys"
1-4 Pakistan
1-1 Japan
7-0 Oman "lepas geram sajalah"

Friendlies against India

won 2-1; India were not full strength
lost 0-6; too hot to handle
lost 0-1

Pre Olympics 1996

beat Belarus and Belgium, then lost to Holland 1-4
Later India 4-1 Holland

Sultan Azlan Shah Tournament, May 1996

Promising start, beating Great Britain 2-1 and Holland 2-0. Then the walls started crashing in. First, completely trampled upon by Australia 1-7. Then just before match against India, complained to coach Volker Knapp "we're feeling lethargic". True to form, they lost 2-3 to a schoolboys' side fielding 11 junior World cuppers. In fact, India scored all their goals in an incredible 5-minute spree. As (painfully) usual, we tried to make amends in the 2nd half but of course Nor Saiful Zaini alone can't do the job. We must learn from South Korea's never-say-die fighting spirit. They conserved their energy against us (losing 0-1, we needed to win by a huge margin) to advance to the final, then held off Australia to win on penalties.

World Cup Qualifiers 1997

We just managed to scrape through after a lapse of 15 years. Finishing 6th out of 12 is not bad, but our inconsistency does not augur well. 2-5 Spain (Olympic silver medallists), 3-0 Belgium, 4-1 Canada (later lost 1-3 in 5/6th placing), 4-5 Poland, 4-3 South Africa, 2-2 Switzerland.

World Cup 1998
What a disaster... humiliated 0-8 by Australia, 2-7 by Pakistan & failing to win when most needed is totally not in order. Volker Knapp's lost for words too. Needless to say, we failed in our aim to finish among the top 6. And yes, I think we finished BOTTOM, or close to it anyway of the pile.

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