KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will look to defender and penalty corner specialist Razie Rahim to drive them to hockey's Sultan Azlan Shah Cup title in Ipoh on Thursday.
The police inspector, who is the pillar of the Speedy Tigers, will earn his 301 caps in the final against Asian champions South Korea.
Razie and teammate Shello Silverius are currently the joint-top scorers in the tournament with five goals each.
The 35-year-old Razie, who will be playing in his third Sultan Azlan Shah Cup final, said he hopes to be third time lucky. Malaysia has never won the tournament since its inception in 1983.
"I last played in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup final in 2013, and we lost to Australia 3-2. This time we hope to defy the odds and beat the Korean team," said Razie.
South Korea had won the tournament three times: 1996, 2010 and 2019.
"It feels good to get my 301 caps in the final. I am honoured to play for the country for more than 300 times.
"But it will be more meaningful if I can help Malaysia win the trophy.
"The pressure is on us to play consistently well in the final. And Malaysian fans also want us to end the title drought."
Razie said he was not satisfied with his performance in Malaysia's first three matches: 3-0 loss to Korea, 1-1 draw against Pakistan and 4-1 win over Egypt.
"I did not score a single goal in the three matches, and only managed to score in the last two round robin matches against South Africa and Japan.
"In the final, I need to score from the penalty corners to put the pressure on the Koreans," said Razie, who scored a hat-trick in the 7-2 win over South Africa and two penalty corner goals in the 4-2 win over Japan.
"We will use the two-day break to rectify our mistakes and plan a strategy to overcome the Koreans who are unbeaten in the tournament.
"They have the psychological advantage as they have beaten us twice in the last two meetings but we will go all out to stop them in the final," said Razie who was the top scorer in the Asia Cup in Jakarta in May with 13 goals. But Malaysia lost 2-1 in the final to Korea, and Razie did not score in the match.
"I am ready to marshall the defence and I am optimistic my teammates will deliver their best to win the title," said Razie.
Malaysia had qualified for the final five times but finished second in 1985, 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2014.