South Korea
IPOH: South Korean coach Shin Seok-kyo is annoyed with his team’s performance in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament.
Seok-kyo said on Friday his players were a big let-down in the matches against Malaysia last Sunday and defending champions Australia on Thursday.
“We should have beaten Malaysia after taking a 2-0 lead in the first half but we allowed the hosts to come back after the breather to score two goals to snatch a point.
“It was the same in the match against Australia.
“We were trailing 2-1 in the first half but we blew it in the second half by conceding three goals to lose 5-1 due to poor defending.
“Our mission is to reach the final but it will now depend on the outcome of our match against South Africa tomorrow (Saturday) and the clash between Malaysia and Australia,” said Seok-kyo.
Australia have already confirmed their final berth, having collected 12 points from four matches. Second-placed Malaysia have 10 points from three wins and a draw while Korea, the 1999 and 2010 champions, are third with seven points from two wins, a draw and a defeat.
Seok-Kyo said they hoped Australia would do them a favour by beating Malaysia by a big margin.
“As for us, we will go all out to score a big margin win over South Africa and hope for the best,” added Seok-kyo.
Seok-kyo added that his players struggled in the tournament due to a lack of training.
“We could not train outdoor due to the winter back home.
“We only trained indoor for a few days.
“But we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will qualify for the final,” said Seok-kyo.
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