Day Five here in Kuala Lumpur was full of surprises. Great Britain set the tune and tenor for the day. Lethargic Pakistan caved in. Fighting Korea survived a scare. Spain came alive. Germany’s onward march halted but the Dutch were not delighted.
Lethargic Pakistan caved in before the controlled British, who reveled in rain or no rain. Ultimately here in KL, the weather gods relented, the ever soaring temperatures came down. It offered the British a perfect setting they would ask for, on Wednesday. Showing signs of improvement the British had built up a formidable 3-0 lead midway through the first half, after sustaining some solo run downs from Pakistan. The Pakistanis were not in their elements, midfield scattered, defence panicked. On the other hand, players like David Alexander, sliced through the Pak’s defence like a knife would in a butter mass. This was a one sided contest. Pakistan’s worries were further compounded when their goalkeeper-captain Salman Akber had to be yellow-carded as Imran Khan, who was serving the yellow card suspension, entered the field without any umpire’s call. An avoidable embarrassment for the Pakistan management.
Struggling Spain, on the other pitch, followed the British Spirit. It garnered its first full points and for that it had to stop the mighty and meticulous Aussies on their track. Aussies trailed all through the game and their penalty corner battery is not improving, despite a first from Luke Doerner. This defeat (2-3) might put a spanner in their quest for top finish.
In an entertaining duel, where fortunes fluctuated every moment, Germany and The Netherlands split the points. But for the large parts of the match, the Dutch were in control of the things. Their second goal in particular which Rogier Hofman scored after a solo was a great stuff. The whole defence was caught unawares with his diving onward push, even as he was falling.
Five cards, three yellow, stand proof for the intensity of Malaysia-Korea match, the last one on Wednesday. After the Koreans scored, Malaysia bounced back and took a 2-1 lead in the 25th minute. Korea neutralized and then posted the winner a minute before the hooter, which turned out to controversial. In fact, again an all Asian match was supervised by the Asian umpires, and Pakistan’s Zulfiqar Haider was in the eye of the storm. Of course, he appeared anything but convincing. Once he awarded penalty corner after the Koreans protest, five minutes later he cancels the one he awarded to the Koreans! On both the occasions, the other umpire’s counselling prevailed. The last goal the Koreans scored appeared for the majority a wrong one as the five yard rule was not applied while taking the free hit. After the hooter the a section of the losing team advanced menacingly towards Haider. However, the Umpires’ Manager and the other umpire pacified the players, brought the situation under control.