IPOH: The Malaysian and Taiwanese hockey teams, and all present at the Azlan Shah Stadium, stood in silence to pay tribute to the late Chua Boon Huat.
The 33-year-old Malacca-born Boon Huat, who had represented Malaysia 337 times, died in a car crash on Aug 1.
And coach Paul Revington’s men paid homage to hockey’s favourite late son with a near perfect performance – thumping Taiwan 10-2 in their Asia Cup Group A match.
But it was world No. 50 Taiwan who shocked Malaysia when they took the lead in the third minute.
Liu Ching-kun collected a through pass and caught the Malaysian defence napping before blasting the ball from the top D past goalkeeper S. Kumar.
That woke up world No. 13 Malaysia from their slumber.
Diminutive forward Faizal Saari and man-of-the-match Mohd Firhan Ashaari bagged a hat-trick each. Faizal got his in the 10th, 12th and 70th minutes while Firhan notched his in the 18th, 19th and 67th minutes.
Mohd Marhan Mohd Jalil (32nd), Izwan Firdaus Ahmad Tajuddin (40th), Nabil Fiqri Mohd Noor (45th) and Mohd Fitri Saari (62nd) chipped in with a goal apiece.
Taiwan’s second goal was scored by Tseng Hsien-yi in the 46th minute.
It was Malaysia’s third big win over Taiwan, having hammered them 17-0 in the Intercontinental Cup here in 1988 and 9-0 in the 2006 Doha Asian Games group match.
Despite the big win, Malaysia need to bolster their defence, especially after lapses in concentration saw them conceding two goals.
Malaysia face an acid test against three-time champions Pakistan today and can’t afford to be so charitable.
Revington’s men need a win over Pakistan to seal a place in the semi-finals.
But Pakistan, who humiliated Japan 7-0 yesterday, look to be the favourites.
Malaysia last played Pakistan in the World League semi-finals in Johor Baru last month. Although Malaysia led 4-1 in a group match, Pakistan hit back to draw 4-4. The two teams met again in the playoff for the fifth to eighth placing and Malaysia won 3-1.
National coach Paul Revington was disappointed with his team for conceding the two goals.
“We cannot afford such defensive lapses against Pakistan, who will be going all out against us as they want to win the tournament (and qualify for the World Cup in The Hague, Holland, next year),” said the South African coach.
“We need to work on some areas and make sure the players move the ball better against Pakistan. It’s never easy playing against them.”
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