TEARS flowed freely after Malaysia lost out on a place in the 2010 New Delhi World Cup. Among those who were in tears were team manager George Koshy, and players S. Kumar, Mohd Madzli Ikmar, Mohd Shukri Mutalib and Jiwa Mohan, mainstays of the team over the years.

ONE look at Andrew Hayward and you will be forgiven if you were to think that he is just an ordinary hockey player. He jokes with his teammates, has an unassuming character and is charming especially to his lady fans.

 But Hayward is a lethal weapon, especially when he lines up on the top of the semi-circle. And Malaysians who were glued to their television sets, watching the live telecast of the decisive match between Malaysia and New Zealand for the sole berth to the 2010 World Cup will not forget him easily.

THE two faces of the Malaysian team were on parade yet again at Invercargill. To sum it all up, Malaysia played speculative hockey and rode their luck to remain in contention for a World Cup berth.

Malaysia led Scotland 3-0 at halftime with two goals from 18-year-old Faisal Saari and a penalty stroke converted by Mohd Amin Rahim. And for the third time within a week, the Malaysian players allowed their opponents back into the match in the second half.

FOR Russel Garcia, the best moment of his hockey career was playing in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur where England won bronze. But that could well be replaced today as Garcia plots Malaysia’s downfall. A win against Malaysia will add a feather in Garcia’s cap for he only took over as coach two months ago.

MALAYSIA have lodged a complaint against the umpires in the match against New Zealand, which they lost 4-2. While it was not a formal protest, team manager George Koshy made his point clear to tournament director Satinder Dhillon that Malaysia were victims of poor umpiring decisions.

The Malaysian camp was incensed with the two set of rules applied by the umpires, Colin Hutchinson of Ireland and Marcin Grochal of Poland, both of whom were guilty of letting off players from the home team for tackles and unsportsman-like behaviour.

WHILE the Malaysians have the best in terms of preparation and participation, they should take a look at what some of the other teams went through just to be at the World Cup qualifiers in Invercargill.

The players from Wales had to fork out £1,600 (RM10,000) each. They also had to take leave from their jobs, and some unpaid.

The Malaysians train full-time, have two cooks, a nutritionist, masseur, physiotherapist and medical assistant.

NEW ZEALAND do not need to depend solely on penalty corner ace marksman Hayden Shaw to win matches and this was made clear against Scotland. The Black Sticks hammered Scotland 8-0 to register their second win in as many matches, after having beaten Wales 6-2 in the opening match on Saturday.

IT IS the lessons in life that Tai Beng Hai learnt from his late father that will now serve him in his quest to ensure Malaysia qualify for the 2010 World Cup in New Delhi.