Concerted effort needed to put team back on track

ANOTHER qualifier, another failure. It is the fifth time in a row, dating back to 2004, that the national hockey team failed to make headway in qualifying tournaments.

The coaches of the national teams then were German Paul Lissek, Sarjit Singh, Wallace Tan. Now, it is Tai Beng Hai who is with the team at the Olympic qualifiers in Dublin. Needless to say, we are out of the London Olympics after the 1-1 draw with Ireland in the last match on Saturday.

We have now missed three Olympics (2004, 2008 and 2012) and two World Cups (2006 and 2010).
The current team started preparations in 2009. They won a silver medal at the 2010 Asian Games and have played close to 40 Test matches before going to Dublin.

Confidence was high before the qualifiers. There were indications that we could at least make the final. But after losing to South Korea and drawing with Ireland, it was all over.
So what went wrong this time?

Actually, the reasons are the same. Making the same mistakes, failure to hold on to the lead, giving away penalty corners when under pressure and the worst – losing and drawing a match in the last five minutes even when they were leading.

This last five-minute syndrome will never go away – simply because the coaches, players and management team do not believe in their capabilities.

They have to start adopting a positive mental attitude, like playing only to win and treating a draw as a loss.
The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) should not act hastily.

They should identify the causes for the flop in Dublin. See if all the right facilities were at the team’s disposal. Then look at the players in the team and see whether the best had been selected.

When Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah took over the hockey association in 2009, there was a frantic search for a foreign coach. Sure, the MHC can hire one if they feel that the local coaches cannot do the job.
But they have to plan ahead. The next major tournament is the 2014 World Cup. Get a good foreign coach now if MHC feel the local coaches are not up to the task.

If the MHC feel the players are not up to the mark, they can start revamping the team on their return from Dublin.

But first, they should talk to all the players, coaches and the management team to find out where they went wrong.

The information gathered would surely come in handy for the next assignment – the Asian Cup tournament, which is the qualifier for the 2014 World Cup.

Are we going to take the back seat again in another qualifier or are we going to put in a concerted effort to put our hockey team back on track and make the grade for the Olympics or World Cup again?



THE STAR