KUANTAN, Oct 28 ― Malaysia will have to contend with the lethal penalty corners and finishing of Pakistan in the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament semi-final match at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium, here tomorrow.

Team captain Shukri Mutalib said the task would be a top priority for the squad even though they defeated Pakistan 4-2 in the opening match as analysis found the defending champions had improved after every game.    

"The game against Pakistan cannot be compared to the match earlier. We have anlaysed the matches and found Pakistan have improved. They improved game by game,” he told a media conference, here today. 

Meanwhile, national hockey coach Stephen Van Huizen said tomorrow’s game would be different compared to the previous match and would see new challenges as both teams were eyeing to be in the final.  

"Pakistan are always one of the good teams in hockey but we managed to beat them in the first game and we finished second in the pool standing. But the match has entered a new round. This position does not matter now.  

"Who plays a better game tomorrow, who makes the right decisions, as well as taking chances and defending well... will decide the winners of tomorrow’s game,” he said.     

Stephen added that his boys were ready and had undergone extra training on penalty shooting as part of preparations to meet Pakistan.  

He noted that the team were aware and prepared if defender Faizal Saari had to leave the game to be with his wife, who is expecting to give birth any time now.    

"We can’t control certain things, but we are all prepared. We know his family comes first but we hope he will be with us until the end of the tournament. I believe Faizal has also set his mind to finish the tournament if he can,” he said.  

Meanwhile, Pakistan coach Muhammad Khawaja Junaid promised a tough fight in tomorrow’s match and that his players would give all it takes to stop Malaysia from entering the final.  

Although the records favour Malaysia, Muhammad Khawaja said he was optimistic that their first victory would be possible if the players gave their full concentration and used all the opportunities to score goals.   

"We will be careful with the tactical and individual skills during the match against Malaysia. Both teams have an advantage on penalty corners but creating opportunities is also important. I think we had lots of it in the previous game, but we missed it.   

"But each game is different and I believe both teams will give their best,” he said. ― Bernama