From Muhammad Afiff Md Adnan
KAKAMIGAHARA, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- National men's hockey head coach Brendon Carolan admitted that weaknesses in defensive, particularly during penalty corners, were among the main factors behind the Speedy Tigers' defeat to defending champions India in the final of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games today.
Carolan said that defensive lapses during crucial moments caused Malaysia to lose control of the match, besides forcing them to chase the game after falling behind in goals.
"Giving away cheap penalty corners somewhat caused us to lose our game rhythm and once we were behind, we were forced to chase the game because we were down by a few goals. Penalty corner defensc at crucial moments hurt us. It almost cost us against Pakistan and it really hurt us today," he said when met.
Malaysia initially displayed a convincing performance, being able to match India's physical intensity and maintain a balanced position within the first 20 minutes but repeated errors inside the box gave India opportunities through set-piece situations, thereby threatening Malaysia's defensive wall as the match entered the second half.
Carolan also described the lack of consistent exposure against world-class teams as one of the factors contributing to the decline in his charges' performance towards the end of the match.
"I think we were good in the first 20 minutes and clearly not so good in the last 30 to 40 minutes. If you play in the Pro League consistently like India, you are used to playing at a very high tempo. For our players to face big teams more consistently will help in terms of that," he said.
Despite being disappointed with the result in the final, Carolan still praised his players' efforts throughout the campaign which saw them go through six matches, including an impressive comeback against Pakistan previously.
He emphasised that the national squad remains motivated to bounce back and shift their focus to the upcoming Olympic qualification tournaments.
-- BERNAMA
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