BHUBANESWAR: The Malaysian hockey team put up a gallant fight but lost 5-3 to Germany on Sunday, and the only thing left to do now is pack their bags and head home.
Germany qualified for the quarter-finals from Group D with three wins, while the Netherlands ended second on six points and Pakistan third on one.
Pakistan were defeated 5-1 by the Netherlands 5-1 but still claimed the third spot on a goal difference over Malaysia.
Finishing last in the pool means no classification matches for the World No 12, and they are likely to finish 15th out of 16 teams, as they only have a 1-1 draw against Pakistan to show.
South Africa should end as the wooden spoonist.
Malaysia went down 3-0 by the 18th minute, as they let in soft attempts from Timm Herzbruch (second), and Christopher Ruhr (14th, 18th) before starting the fighback.
Razie Rahim (26th) and Nabil Fiqri (28th) scored two quick penalty corner goals, and the crowd at the Kalinga Stadium went wild.
But Marco Miltkau (39th) again increased the lead before Razie managed to reduce the deficit.
In their haste to level the match, rough play crept in and it was green for Firhan Ashaari and yellow to Marhan Jalil.
With nine men on the field, the Germans easily made it 5-3 through Herzbruch in the 59th minute.
"Disappointed with the end result, but we will be taking home valuable lessons from this tournament.
"Our next assignment is to qualify for the Olympcis, and I believe with the tough matches we went through against the Netherlands and Germany, we have gained some information on what to do next," said Oltmans.
German skipper Martin Haner said they knew it would be silly to take Malaysia lightly, but it did creep into the mind after taking a 3-0 lead.
"We know that Malaysia never give up until the end and things could have been dangerous if we did not play our normal game. But after taking a 3-0 lead, we somehow forgot about it and took matters for granted.
"Luckily, we re-grouped in time and held their fight-back at bay," said Haner.
The World Cup had four Asian teams. India qualified automatically for the quarter-finals, while China will play France in the crossover.
And Pakistan will play Belgium in the other crossover to decide the quarter-finalists, while the Malaysian players will head home in the next available flight from Bhubaneswar.