NATIONAL goalkeepers’ coach Shahid Ali Khan sees promise in junior Hakim Adnan provided he sheds his lazy attitude in training.
Hakim will be the player between the posts for Malaysia in the Junior Asia Cup which starts on Friday in Hyderabad, India.
The tournament offers three tickets to the 2009 Junior World Cup but co-hosts Malaysia and Singapore need not sweat.
Malaysia are in Group A with Singapore, Japan and India, while in Group B are Bangladesh, South Korea, Oman and Pakistan.
“Hakim has the height and is agile and I see a great future for him, but he is lazy and does not like training. Also, he does not keep fit when left on his own.
“I am working to change his attitude, as I believe he can challenge seniors goalkeeper (S.) Kumar in a few years,” said Shahid, who was a former Pakistan international.
The No 2 juniors goalkeeper is Safiuddin Sahrom, but he is unlikely to see much action in Hyderabad.
“Goalkeepers are so well protected these days that one rarely gets injured. Most teams have started with only one goalkeeper so that they can have an extra man in outfield,” said Shahid.
“We also fielded one goalkeeper in many of the Azlan Shah Cup matches and I believe this will be the trend in the Asia Cup too.”
Shahid is also impressed with five young goalkeepers he saw in action at the Terengganu Malaysia Games.
“I will call them for a training stint soon and select a few who show promise to have a bigger pool of goalkeepers.”
Currently Kumar is the No 1, while the others are miles behind
1 Comment
Whats that shahid is trying to prove? The goalkeepers are not good…or if he does train them.. then they will improve significantly? Kumar conceeded 14 goals in Olympic qualifier where the team stood 3rd. In the recent Azlan shah he conceeded 15 goals where the team came last.. 2007 champions trophy hockey tournament Malaysia conceed 26 goals and stood last (dont know how many goals kumar conceeded). In the previous edition of Azlan shah he had played much better. Recently concluded 4 nations the juniors did not farewell as they even lost to Austria. So Shahid, you need to better increase your tempo of training…..