PETALING JAYA: The national junior hockey team will need to be extra vigilant when marking their opponents when they face England in the Junior World Cup in India today.
The Young Tigers will be hoping for a good result in their third Group E match against England after taking a 6-0 thrashing by Holland in Madurai on Sunday.
Junior team head coach Norsaiful Zaini said the size difference between our boys and their European opponents is obvious, and they will need to double-up their man-marking.
“England are a strong team, and we played against them at the Sultan of Johor Cup recently,” said Norsaiful.
“So we know a little bit about their game. They have tall players, and we will need extra players to mark them.
“We need to be sharp defensively. The extra spaces created by England need to be covered.”
At the Sultan of Johor Cup last month, England beat Malaysia 4-1 in the group stage.
Malaysia eventually finished fifth out of six teams.
The Young Tigers had started well in India, taking a 5-1 win against Austria on Saturday.
The Young Tigers will need to collect three points against England if they wish to qualify for the quarter-finals in India.
