Hockey World Cup 2018, Malaysia vs Germany: 5 Talking Points

Germany made it three wins in as many games with a fine performance over Malaysia
Germany made it three wins in as many games with a fine performance over Malaysia

#4 Malaysian attack is backed by a jittery defence

Malaysian attack jeopardized by jittery defence
Malaysian attack jeopardized by jittery defence

Though down, Malaysia was certainly not out. Coached by Roelant Oltmans, the Asian Games' silver medalists were raring to go in this do or die match.

And they found a reason to smile in the second quarter, as they earned two back to back penalty corners in the 26th and 28th minute respectively, which were converted without any difficulty by Razie Rahim and Nabil Noor into goals, reducing the deficit to 3-2.

However, they couldn't equalize the score at all, thanks to their jittery defence. Much like the notorious Indian defence, the Malaysian defence is also the weak spot for Malaysia.

This was the same thing that was exploited by Japan in the Asian Games finals to not only come back into the match, but also earn a surprise gold medal.

Now this was the same weak spot that hindered Malaysia from getting back into the match.

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