JOHOR BARU: Malaysian fans watched a preview of Australian and German mastery before the December Junior World Cup, which saw a comeback as well as a scuffle and power play at the end game before the match ended 2-2 in Group A of the Sultan of Johor Cup (SoJC) on Monday.
Playing at the Taman Daya Stadium, Australia were clinical in their approach and outclassed Germany in every department for three quarters, but the Germans did not roll back and concede defeat.
With two minutes to end and losing 2-1, Germany took out their goalkeeper and opted for power play, which earned them the draw.
And with 20 seconds to end, players from both sides were involved in a shoving match which was quickly brought under control.
Australia took a 2-0 lead off Dylan Downey (10th) and Cooper Burns (11th), but Germany caught up with goals from Paul Glander (51st) and Luis Hoechemer (59th).
Australian coach Jay Stacy said: "We are here to learn from every match and this was a very interesting encounter where we took a 2-0 lead and then let Germany make a comeback in the last 10 minutes.
"We have a lot to learn from this match, and our team can only grow better leading to the Junior World Cup."
German coach Eijk van Rein was naturally a happy man and said this was the first time his team used power-play this year and were successful,
"These players have been accustomed to power play in our league, but we used it for the first time this year and the result was amazing.
"After scoring the equaliser, I brought back the goalkeeper in.
"We did not want to take the risk of losing our point. We have another tough game against Britain on Tuesday and we did not want to upset the equation today (Monday)," said Van Rein
In a late Group B match, India thrashed New Zealand 6-2 for seven points after three matches and the Malaysia-Pakistan match on Tuesday will decide which team tops the table as Pakistan now have three points after two matches.
RESULTS: Group A: South Africa 1 Beritain 2, Australia 2 Germany 2; Group B: India 6 New Zealand 2.
FIXTURES
Tuesday: Group A: Germany v Britain (4pm), South Africa v Australia (6pm); Group B: Malaysia v Pakistan (8.30pm).
* All matches at Taman Daya Stadium, Johor Baru