Coach Nor Saiful Zaini’s Young Tigers defeated Japan 4-2 in a hard-fought match in the 14th edition of the Sultan of Johor Cup at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru on Tuesday.
The action-packed encounter saw Muhammad Hafiezudin Mohd Ali (27th), A Aferullahsyah (52st), Naveeneesh Paniker (56th), and Dheereesh (56th) score for Malaysia while Matsuki Mori (19th) and Rintaro Sakai scored for Japan.
Midfielder Adam Ashraf Johari received the Player of the Match award from Johor Hockey Association President Dato’ Majid Manjit Abdullah.
Malaysia and Pakistan share six-equal points after two matches, but the Green Shirts top the point standings with a four-goal advantage. The Malaysians will go head-to-head against Pakistan on Wednesday (21st Oct), and play their last round-robin match against Canada on Friday.
Watched by close to 2,000 fans, both teams started cautiously probing for chances. The Young Tigers went on an aggressive mode in the early proceeding, making several circle entries only to be denied by the defenders and goalkeeper Kazato Baba.
As the Malaysians pressed to look for the opening goal, they were awarded a penalty corner opportunity in the fifth minute. Dheereesh Gunaseelan’s attempt was foiled by the Japanese, who stood their ground.
Both teams continued their back-and-forth actions seeking for goals but to no avail at the conclusion of the first quarter.
Japan’s hard work in search for the opening goal bore fruit in the second quarter with Matsuki slotting the ball into goalkeeper Mohammad Adib Amsyar’s net in the 19th minute.
That goal by Japan woke the dragon in the Malaysians who stepped up looking for the equalizer. Japan was under tremendous pressure towards the end of the second quarter as the Young Tigers created a couple of chances, and were rewarded with a penalty stroke in the 27th minute after Aferullsyah Ahmad Azuan Syahril was brought down by goalkeeper Kazato Baba. Muhammad Hafiezudin calmly scored.
The Japanese attempted to retain possession and were successful in the 43rd minute. Rintaro found his way to score a field goal, placing his side in a 2-1 lead going into the fourth and final quarter.
However, the last quarter belonged to the Young Tigers who turned on the heat in the last few minutes to score three goals.
“After the tough match against Japan, I hope my players will be able to recover in time to give Pakistan a strong challenge,” said Nor Saiful.
