| Malaysia clinch bronze
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September 9, 2007
Malaysia 5 Japan 3
Malaysia beat Japan 5-3 and win a bronze medal for the first time in the Asia Cup. Though Malaysia conceded an early goal in the 2nd minute, they fought back to level off in the 4th minute and then lead 5-1 before Japan pulled back two goals in the last three minutes. It has been a tremendous run for Malaysia in the Asia Cup. They topped the Pool and also matched Korea in the semi-finals before losing out 1-2.
Japan took the lead in the 2nd minute when Yamabori sped into the striking circle and taking advantage of a lethargic Malaysian defence, shot in past the goalkeeper.
But two minutes later, in the 4th minute, Kevinder Singh, equalized for Malaysia off a penalty corner.
By the break, Malaysia were up 4-1 after some wonderful midfield play and terrific conversions from their forwards.
The lead increased to 5-1 and just when it seemed that Malaysia would walk off at that score-line, Japan first missed a penalty stroke and then Nagasawa and Kawakami scored field goals to cut the scores. But the victory was Malaysia’s for some superb offensive play in the first half.
Score Sheet:
Yamabori Takahiko (2nd, FG) 1-0
Kevinder Singh (4th, PC) 1-1
Selvaraju Sandrakasi (13th, FG) 2-1
Chua Boon Huat (18th, FG) 3-1
Chua Boon Huat (22nd, FG) 4-1
Ismail Abu (64th, FG) 5-1
Nagasawa Katsuyoshi (67th, FG) 2-5
Kawakami Kei (70th, FG) 3-5
| Schedule |
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Final Standings :
1. India
2. S Korea
3. Malaysia
4. Japan
5. China
6. Pakistan
7. Bangladesh
8. Hong Kong
9. Sri Lanka
10. Singapore
11. Thailand
Sunday's Matches  |
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| TEAM A | TEAM B | Playoff | TIME | RESULT | |||
| S Lanka | SPore | 9/10 | 08:00 | 6-0 | |||
| Ban | HKG | 7/8 | 07:00 | 3-1 | |||
| China | Pak | 5/6 | 09:30 | 3-2 | |||
| Malaysia | Japan | 3/4 | 16:00 | 5-3 | |||
| India | S Korea | 1/2 | 18:30 | 7-2 | |||
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Saturday's Matches |
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| TEAM A | v | TEAM B | TIME | RESULT | |||
| Singapore | v | Thailand | 08:00 | 4-0 | |||
| Pak | v | Ban | 07:00 | 10-0 | |||
| China | v | HongKong | 09:30 | 6-1 | |||
| S Korea | v | Malaysia | 17:00 | 2-1 | |||
| India | v | Japan | 19:30 | 4-1 | |||
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SCORE TABLE |
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| POOL A | |||||||
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| Malaysia SF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 4 | 10 | |
| Japan SF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 4 | 9 | |
| Pakistan | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 7 | 7 |
| Hong Kong | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 28 | 3 | |
| Singapore | 4 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 0 | ||
| POOL B | |||||||
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| India SF | 5 | 5 | 46 | 2 | 15 | ||
| S Korea SF | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 8 | 10 |
| China | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 6 | 10 |
| Bangladesh | 5 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 22 | 6 | |
| Sri Lanka | 5 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 46 | 3 | |
| Thailand | 5 | 5 | 1 | 67 | 0 | ||
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 A team should be ready to play anyone. Of course, more |
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