Malaysia loses first leg 1-4 to Great Britain in Tokyo 2020 hockey play-off

Malaysia has an uphill task in the second leg of their 2020 Tokyo Olympics hockey qualifiers playoff after losing 1-4 to Great Britain in the first leg in London early today (Malaysian time).

Besides having to display a courageous and energetic effort in the deciding match at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, Roelant Oltmans’ charges now have to devise a plan on how to overcome a three-goal deficit and pull off a great comeback.

In today's game, it all seemed to go well initially for the Speedy Tigers squad when they got a penalty corner, which unfortunately was not converted.

However, the Malaysians continued to pressure Great Britain in their half and got the early lead they were hoping for in the sixth minute after Nabil Fiqri Mohd Noor smartly latched on to Muhammad Razie Abdul Rahim's pass to surprise Britain goalkeeper George Pinner for Malaysia's first goal.

The Malaysians maintained good play with excellent ball control shown by defenders Faiz Helmi Jali and Syed Syafiq Syed Cholan.

Stunned by Malaysia's waves of attack, Great Britain looked for ways to control the game, resorting to counter-attacks, one of which was eventually converted just before the second quarter ended.

Piling more pressure on the Malaysian defence from then on, they eventually equalised through forward, Sam Ward in the 33rd minute.

Great Britain continued to be on the offensive, and S Kumar's goalpost was rattled three minutes later when the host took the lead through a Phil Roper field goal in the 36th minute before Alan Forsyth extended their lead in the 42nd minute.

Malaysia's Faizal Saari received a green card with two minutes remaining in the third quarter for a foul and was sent to the sin bin.

Great Britain piled more misery on the Malaysians in the 47th minute when James Gall scored their fourth goal to take a comfortable lead into the second leg which will play at 11pm (Malaysian time) today.

Malaysia will now have to produce a flawless and tactically astute display to qualify for its first Olympics Games since last featuring in the 2000 edition in Sydney, Australia.

- Bernama