ROURKELA: The Malaysian hockey team were praised by fans as well as politicians even though they did not qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals.
That is because they played their hearts out and held Spain 2-2, then 3-3 in a shootout before finally bowing out 4-3 on sudden-death in Bhubaneswar, India.
Malaysia will meet South Africa tomorrow in Rourkela, India, in a ninth-16th classification match.
Incidentally, Malaysia ended up 15th and South Africa 16th in the 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar at the Kalinga Stadium.
Now, the two nations will meet again to decide their fate.
But there is no room for defeat against South Africa, and Malaysia players know that they will be slammed if they do not perform in this match.
If coach Arul Selvaraj's men beat South Africa, they will play the winners of the Japan-India match and move up the rankings.
But a loss will see Malaysia play the losers of the India-Japan match.
Malaysia players, from the goalkeeper to strikers, look like they have rebounded from the good vibes back home.
"With our backs against the wall, the Tigers have no choice but to fight and claw their way towards the ninth position, and South Africa have to be beaten at all costs at the Birsa Munda Stadium," said Malaysia coach Arul Selvaraj.
Birsa Munda holds good memories, and even though Malaysia lost 4-0 to the Netherlands there, they went on to beat Chile 3-2 and then New Zealand 3-2 at the Kalinga Stadium.
"The players have gotten over that Spain defeat, and the smiles are back in training and tactical sessions.
"We had played South Africa many times and know their strengths and weaknesses.
"Our penalty corner battery is also performing well in training sessions since we came to Birsa Munda, and that is a positive development," said Arul.
Against Spain in the crossover, Malaysia strikers won only one penalty corner and it was bungled. On the other hand, Spain had eight penalty corners and one penalty stroke.
Malaysia defenders can't be so generous against South Africa, or their "forgiving" fans will turn into ferocious online critics like what hosts India are experiencing after failing to qualify for the quarter-finals.