The Netherlands start their World Cup campaign with easy victory over Malaysia
The Netherlands' men's hockey team got their World Cup campaign off to a perfect start on Saturday as they defeated Malaysia 4-0. Goals from Thijs van Dam, Jip Janssen, Teun Being, and Jorrit Croon gave Jeroen Delmee's side a convincing victory.
The Netherlands has one of the youngest squads they have ever had for a World Cup, as coach Jeroen Delmee has put a lot of faith in the younger players. Delmee has coached 25 matches as Netherlands coach, with 17 ending in victory.
As expected, due to the quality difference between the two teams, Malaysia mainly sat back and let the Netherlands have the ball. The Netherlands got their first corner with four minutes left of the quarter, but Malaysia keeper Othman Hafizuddin saved the attempt by Jip Janssen.
Koen Bijen tested Hafizuddin again a short while later with the next ball resulting in the opening goal for the Dutch. Thijs van Dam took advantage of a mistake in Malaysia's defence. Delmee's men went into halftime with a two-goal lead as Jip Janssen got the second for the Dutch.
The second half was an uneventful affair, but the Netherlands did add to their goal tally with a strike from Teun Beins to make it 3-0. And that was not the last of the goalmouth action as Jorrit Croon got on the scoresheet with the final attack of the match.
It was a perfect start for Delmee's men, who will play their next match on Thursday against Chile in Bhubaneswar. Chile lost their first match of the group on Saturday as New Zealand defeated them 3-1.
