MALAYSIA were consistent as they lost their fifth straight match in the World Cup by going down 5-2 to Spain at the Hague, Netherlands yesterday.
Now, they will play in the 11th-12th classification match while Spain in the seventh-eight and India involved in the ninth-10th playoffs.
Malaysia did not look like they were playing to win, as the defenders kept giving away penalty corners.
A total of six penalty corners were given away in the first half, and in the 13th minute, Gabrial Dabanch finally scored for the lead.
Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin was then handed a sitter, which he cooly slotted in the equaliser in the 24th minute, but there was no drive to take the lead after the goal.
Instead, Spain took a 2-1 just before the breather when Marc Salles’ powerful drive beat goalkeeper S. Kumar in the 33rd minute.
After the re-start, Spain won their seventh penalty corner and Santi Freixa nailed the third goal with a high drive in the 37th minute.
Dabanch scored again in the 46th minute while Sergi Enrique added a fifth in the 68th minute to confirm Spain’s win while Fitri Sari scored off a penalty stroke in the 51st minute which made no difference in another sound beating.