A determined Malaysia entered the final of Hero Asia Cup 2022 after defeating Japan 5-0 at the GBK Sports Arena here on Tuesday.
In what was supposed to be a repeat of the 2018 Asian Games final held in the same venue where Japan had beaten Malaysia to clinch the gold, the Hero Asia Cup 2022 Super 4s match wore no similarity to the game held five years ago.
Malaysia was a far superior team today with an experienced squad beating Japan 5-0 and marching into the Final.
Having been denied a goal on technicality, after Japan called for a video referral early in the first quarter, Malaysia ensured they were not bogged down by that decision as they scored a fabulous field goal in the 15th minute through Shello Silverius. That goal setup Malaysia’s momentum into the upcoming quarters as they rampaged into the Japanese circle with strong forays that created scoring opportunities.
They doubled the lead in the 30th minute with another field goal by Aiman Rozemi. They made the scoreline 4-0 in no time as they came back from the ten-minute half time break with greater intent to win. They pumped back-to-back goals in the 35th minute. One came via penalty corner converted by Razie Rahim, who continues to remain the top scorer of the tournament, while the next goal came from Muhammad Hassan who scored a fine field goal.
Ashran Hamsani then scored a splendid field goal in the 42nd minute that took their lead to a formidable 5-0. There was chance for Japan to recover from this big deficit as they conceded, settling for a bronze medal place in the tournament against India to be held on June 1.
“I am very happy that we are in the Final of the Hero Asia Cup. We knew we had to win by a big margin if we wanted to make the final after the two draws, we suffered in the tournament earlier. We gave it our best and now we need to repeat this performance in the final tomorrow,” stated Captain Mahran of Malaysia.
