Saturday, January 14, 2012

JUNIORS SHOW THE WAY

Having read the two English dailies this morning, one that projected the excuses dished out by Tai Beng Hai while the other hammered the performances of the team into orbit, I opted to wait till the Project 2013 played China this evening.

And as expected the 2013 squad won 6-2 and I rather talk about their performance instead of dwelling on the excuses offered which was effectively handled in the report today.

Intrigued by the score line, I contacted K. Dharmaraj and sought his comments and what was the difference between his and the national teams performances.

True to his nature, Dharma avoided talking about the national team and spoke just about his players.

"We played our normal game and opted for high press, letting the opponents make the mistakes," said Dharma.

"The players played to their ability and were focused as I had told them the result did not matter but what was important was that they give their best.

"We hope to improve and prove that our win at the Sultan Johor Cup was not a flash in the pan."

The 2013 squad scored through Syamim Yusof (6th minute). Mohd Noor Faez Ibrahim ( 16th minute) and Kevinder Singh (18th minute) for a 3-0 halftime lead.

Dedy Aryandi made it 4-0 in the 39th minute before Sang Yi reduced the deficit in the 43rd minute.

Faez scored his second and Malaysia's fifth in the 51st minute before Amir Farid made it 6-1 in the 60th minute.

For the record 2013 had 3 penalty corners and scored from 2.