AUSTRALIA JOIN ARGENTINA IN LAST FOUR OF KL WORLD 5s

The Argentines had already stated in no uncertain terms that they will be out to win the full points against a much-improved Australian side where a win would ensure that they avoid powerhouse Brazil in the crossover semi-finals.

But today, it was all about Australia as after rubbing off the challenge of hosts Malaysia first thing in the morning, the Aussies seem to be still fired up when they scored all their goals against England in the first half of the game tonight.

The scorers for Australia were Greg Giovenali (1st and 10th); Fernando Moraes (4th min); Flaningan Trent (6th); Haydon Luke(6th) and Macor Daniel(17th).

England’s lone goal in the game came off Alex Skyes in the eleventh minute as Australia romped to a perfect three out of three record and a place in the last four.

With Brazil already confirming their place in the semi-finals of the KL World 5s from Group B following today’s methodological 4-0 win over Thailand, the fight to decide as to which team will join them in the next round will be decided tomorrow.

All three teams – Holland, Thailand and Iran – have a mathematical chance of making it although at this point in time, the question is how well Iran can cope in playing against China in the morning and then the decisive tie against Thailand later at night.

The Iranians have shown that they have certainly adjusted to the prevailing conditions in Kuala Lumpur following their late arrival and this was evident following their ability to overcome Holland 3-1 in what was a pivotal match in Group B this afternoon.
But as Iran head coach Hossein Shams said afterwards, the game against Holland was all about winning the three points – while at the same time maintaining a steady focus for the two matches tomorrow.

“We have to conserve our energy for tomorrow where we will have to play two matches. There’s no point in being ambitious today and getting into trouble tomorrow.”

RESULTS (31 Jan, 2008)

10am: Australia vs Malaysia (7-0)
1pm: Holland vs Iran (1-3)
3pm: Indonesia vs Argentina (0-6)
6pm: Brazil vs Thailand (4-0)
9pm: England vs Australia (1-6)

FIXTURES (1 Feb, 2008)

10am: Iran vs China
3pm: Malaysia vs England
5pm: Australia vs Argentina
7pm: Brazil vs Holland
9pm: Thailand vs Iran