The first game for Canada at the 23rd edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia was contested for in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Ipoh on a hot and humid Malaysian night. After months of preparation the Canadians started with fast and furious play.
Canada started with a fantastic aggressive play that left Gabe Ho-Garcia alone in the circle with the ball; but his shot was denied by the keeper. The Koreans were taken a little off guard by the Canadian’s play and another close chance by Philip Wright in the first 2 minutes was denied. Korea settled down and took control of the ball. The current Asian Cup Champions and 7th world ranked nation settle in to score two goals on short corners and a 3rd on a set play deflection.
After an early flurry the Koreans scored 3 goals in 16 minutes with the first half ending with a 3-0 score line.
Canada showed more discipline in the second half and regained some of the magic from the opening minutes. Their better play resulted in 3 corners and many circle infiltrations. The first penalty corner was deflected high; the second was taken by Scott Tupper and was right on net but deflected by the keeper. The third was a miss-hit from the top that went wide of the net. The defensive Canadian PC team was able to fend off a two Korean penalty corners to keep the game exciting. Near the end of the game Ben Martin, on a gutsy selfless move, made a spectacular goal line save that clearly disappointed the Koreans and boosted the Canadians. After a late flurry, the game ended with a 3-0 win for Korea.
“There are certain aspects of that game we can be happy with,” said Canada’s Head Coach, Anthony Farry. “Our structure and shape in the second half was much improved. However, we need to be more clinical and execute in the attacking zone so we can apply scoreboard pressure to teams. It is positive that we’re creating opportunities, especially against the number 7 ranked Koreans. We’ll certainly be looking to tidy up a few small details leading into our match versus Australia.”
Canada has a rest day tomorrow. Australia, the current number one ranked team in the world, is up next for the boys on Sunday at 6:00pm.
- March 14 versus Korea (7) [Canada 0 – Korea 3]
- March 16 versus Australia (1)
- March 17 versus Malaysia (13)
- March 19 versus South Africa (12)
- March 20 versus China (25)
- March 23 classification matches
Canadian Men’s National Roster in Malaysia:
Adam Froese (Abbotsford, BC)
Antoni Kindler (Vancouver, BC)
Benjamin Martin (Vancouver, BC)
David Carter (Vancouver, BC)
Gabriel Ho-Garcia (Burnaby, BC)
Gordon Johnston (Vancouver, BC)
Hudson Stewart (Vancouver, BC)
Jagdish Gill (Toronto, ON)
James Kirkpatrick (Victoria, BC)
Iain Smythe (Vancouver, BC)
Keegan Pereira (Ajax, ON)
Mark Pearson (Tsawwassen, BC)
Matt Guest (Calgary, AB)
Paul Wharton (Vancouver, BC)
Philip Wright (Vancouver, BC)
Scott Tupper (Vancouver, BC)
Sukhi Panesar (Surrey, BC)
Taylor Curran (North Vancouver, BC)
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