KUALA LUMPUR: National Juniors coach Amin Rahim works like a magician.
The ex-international claims he has solved his team's inconsistency problems, which had plagued them during the Sultan of Johor Cup (SoJC) last month and the Junior Asia Cup in Oman in May.
With three more days until their opening Junior World Cup (JWC) Group A match against Chile in KL, coach Amin Rahim said the team is well-prepared to play consistently for 60 minutes.
"In Oman, we played fantastic hockey in the opening two quarters and then made too many errors in the third and fourth. "In the SoJC, they played totally differently in each quarter. My players were made to understand this, and they are now better prepared to play consistently.
"And consistency is what will win us the first match against Chile, after which we take it one game at a time," said Amin.
At the SoJC, Malaysia were always chasing after letting in easy goals, and they can't afford this at their own stadium, weather, food, and fans balking at their heels.
All the teams who arrived here said the weather is too humid even though it has been cool and cloudy for the last few days.
"Yes, it's our stadium, our weather, our food, and our fans, so we must use them as an advantage to win matches. No excuses, as I believe my players can qualify for the next stage (quarter-finals)," said Amin.
The other teams in Group A are defending champions Argentina and Australia. The juniors will play a warm-up match against India on Sunday.
Amin will be looking for structure and consistency, and the score would not be important against India.