KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia threw everything they had at Belgium in their ninth to 12th-place classification match but were sunk in the penalty shootout, going down 3-5 at the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup today.
Playing under a blanket of non-stop rain, from the national anthems to the final hooter, both teams were tied at 2-2 in normal time in a match that saw a total of 18 shots from both sides.
The limelight of the match was stolen by Belgian goalkeeper Boris Feldheim, who staged a heroic performance by protecting his team’s goalpost, saving a total of 12 shots made by the Malaysians.
There was no fire in head coach Amin Rahim’s charges, as they failed to find the net through their penalty corners on eight occasions in the match.
However, Amin said that he is still proud of his players for putting up a good fight in their unfortunate defeat against the Red Lions.
“We were unlucky, as we dominated the match throughout, with our vicious attacks and running across the Belgium defence on several occasions.
“It’s just that their goalkeeper showed up in this match, and it was really hard for us to overcome him as he was really on form throughout the game.
“I told my boys to chin up, as they were very well disciplined throughout the game. We may not have scored any of our penalty corners today, but I have to say that our penalty corner techniques have improved so much compared to our previous matches.
“I wish we would have played like today in all of our other matches, but never mind, the tournament is still not over for us.
“We will march into the next match with the same winning spirit and hopefully finish eleventh in this tournament,” said Amin in today’s post-match conference.
Meanwhile, Belgium head coach Jeroen Baart allowed players who were yet to have game time in the tournament by making a total of seven changes to his squad from their previous match against Canada, where they won 12-0.
The 42-year-old coach commended his team’s performance and praised his players’ mentality for showcasing a warrior attitude since missing out on their quarter-final spot.
“I love the desire and hunger the players have; they fought hard to protect our dignity in this tournament.
“They fought like warriors, and the boys also did a lot of homework to make sure we knew Malaysia’s weaknesses and to defeat them at their home ground.
“I’m also happy with the penalty strokes of my players, and I’m hoping that we push ourselves in the next game and finish at least ninth in this tournament,” said Baart.
Malaysia’s goals in normal time were scored by 17-year-old Adam Ashraf (37th) and Harris Iskandar Osman through a penalty stroke in the 51st minute.
Belgium’s goals were scored by Max Luyten (28th) and Hugo Labouchere in the 36th minute through a penalty corner.
The shootout saw Belgium score all five penalty strokes through Nicolas Bogaerts, Boris Feldheim, Victor Fouber, Lucas Putters, and Guillermo Hainaut.
Malaysia scored three goals in the shootout through Shahmie Suhaimi, Kamal Mughni, and Faris Harizan, while Alfarico Liau’s penalty was denied by Boris. – December 13, 2023