Malaysia Oh My Football Team.
I learned from the news paper today that Malaysia lost to Indonesia 1-4 in the 2nd leg of the Tiger Cup ½ final. I didn’t bother to watch the game last night since I have anticipated the result of the game. However, I didn’t expect the score was going to be as we see it today. So where do we put the blame now? Was it the coach? Or was it the players? Or the field was not flat enough? Whatever it was we gave in after the break when we were leading Indonesia 1-0. Not a safe gap in goal difference but we were leading and in aggregate we were leading by 3-1.
Let's take a look at the string of coaches appointed to train the Malaysian team. We have been appointing foreign coaches as far as I can remember except for the like of Chow Kwai Lam, Abdul Rahman Ibrahim etc. Are they good? Let us list out the name of the coaches. Some of them lead other countries to the world cup final. Josef Venglos led the former Yungoslavia to the 1990 world cup final. Claude Le Roy led Cameroon to the 1994 (if I’m not mistaken). Then we have Allan Harris, Hatem Soussi and now Bertalan Bicksei (I don’t know whether I spelled it correctly). I think all of them are coaches of calibre. If not, how on earth were they appointed as coaches? They must have very strong strings if they are not good (pulling string is common here). So, who do we put the blame on?
I still remember reading news about the Malaysian football team when they qualify the Olympic in Munchen in 1980. Players like the late Mokhtar Dahari, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh etc have played games at almost the highest level. Malaysia was ranked at less than 100, in the world ranking I think (pardon me if I’m wrong because I can only remember this vaguely since I was only 4 years old in 1980). These players have no luxury of driving a nice car but when they are on the pitch, they get their job done. The scenario changed in the 1990’s or when the Semi Pro League started. The ball went downhill after that. The last proud moment I remember for us Malaysian was when Malaysia won the gold medal during the SEA games in Kuala Lumpur. After that, I didn’t really bother even so, I still keep tab on the state team especially Kedah (my beloved state. They have a theme song which is embedded in my head and it plays over and over again at times).
Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)’s intention was dignified, uncomplicated and obvious when they started the Semi Pro League. It is to prepare the country’s football hamlet for the full fledge Professional League. So, players are employed by a football association and no longer employed by the banks, semi governmental bodies and government agencies (I think Ali Bakar was attached with the Prison Department and Datuk Dell Akbar Khan (the present secretary of FAM) was with the police force). So the player get “real” footballers pay compared to footballers in those days. They learn about money. So, the current motivation is all money, money and money. They don’t have the pride of wearing the state and even the national jersey anymore (well, to be fair, may be some but no more than the pride felt by the footballers in those days). So, when money is the motivation, when they don’t hear any lucrative incentives at the end of the tunnel, the play sucks. They really do. They play like kids in the primary school (sometimes it is better to watch kids play).
But don’t get me wrong, I am not pointing at the players alone or on the coaches or the FAs. All quarters share a little bit of the blame and the glory. But if you turn professional, you are promised with certain amount of compensation for your service and you are expected to give certain kind of service, what else can you expect? It is always money and success. Thus, all quarters have to be mentally and most important, financially stable so that nobody (including but not limited to footballers, management team and the supporters) is a victim. The footballers have to understand that, it is not always money and the management must be able to meet the need of the footballers. Then we can move forward little by little to see our country’s football team in the same wave as the other teams in the region. The players have to be more confident (but not over confident), believe in their selves and their team mates, work as a team, be more discipline and fight wholeheartedly. Let us put the name of Malaysia back to where it belong, let us cherish the days where we can be proud of our country and may the days came back to us so we can taste the sweetness of joy (and the smell of the players sweat). Now, the Kedah team theme song: -
Yakinkanlah diri sendiri
Berjuanglah sejiwa murni
Tekun berani
Sesungguh hati
Demi sukan mengharum negeri
Biar jasa jadi kenangan
Hijau Kuning lambang kemenangan
Jelapang padi tempat sanjungan
Negeri Kedah Darul Aman
Kedah, Kedah pantang kalah
Walau sakit jatuh dan rebah
Bangun lantas semula gagah
Bujur lalu melintang patah
Hijau Kuning tanahku
Darul Aman Negeri ku
Hijau Kuning darah kuNegeri Kedah Negeri ku (2x)
Let's take a look at the string of coaches appointed to train the Malaysian team. We have been appointing foreign coaches as far as I can remember except for the like of Chow Kwai Lam, Abdul Rahman Ibrahim etc. Are they good? Let us list out the name of the coaches. Some of them lead other countries to the world cup final. Josef Venglos led the former Yungoslavia to the 1990 world cup final. Claude Le Roy led Cameroon to the 1994 (if I’m not mistaken). Then we have Allan Harris, Hatem Soussi and now Bertalan Bicksei (I don’t know whether I spelled it correctly). I think all of them are coaches of calibre. If not, how on earth were they appointed as coaches? They must have very strong strings if they are not good (pulling string is common here). So, who do we put the blame on?
I still remember reading news about the Malaysian football team when they qualify the Olympic in Munchen in 1980. Players like the late Mokhtar Dahari, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh etc have played games at almost the highest level. Malaysia was ranked at less than 100, in the world ranking I think (pardon me if I’m wrong because I can only remember this vaguely since I was only 4 years old in 1980). These players have no luxury of driving a nice car but when they are on the pitch, they get their job done. The scenario changed in the 1990’s or when the Semi Pro League started. The ball went downhill after that. The last proud moment I remember for us Malaysian was when Malaysia won the gold medal during the SEA games in Kuala Lumpur. After that, I didn’t really bother even so, I still keep tab on the state team especially Kedah (my beloved state. They have a theme song which is embedded in my head and it plays over and over again at times).
Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)’s intention was dignified, uncomplicated and obvious when they started the Semi Pro League. It is to prepare the country’s football hamlet for the full fledge Professional League. So, players are employed by a football association and no longer employed by the banks, semi governmental bodies and government agencies (I think Ali Bakar was attached with the Prison Department and Datuk Dell Akbar Khan (the present secretary of FAM) was with the police force). So the player get “real” footballers pay compared to footballers in those days. They learn about money. So, the current motivation is all money, money and money. They don’t have the pride of wearing the state and even the national jersey anymore (well, to be fair, may be some but no more than the pride felt by the footballers in those days). So, when money is the motivation, when they don’t hear any lucrative incentives at the end of the tunnel, the play sucks. They really do. They play like kids in the primary school (sometimes it is better to watch kids play).
But don’t get me wrong, I am not pointing at the players alone or on the coaches or the FAs. All quarters share a little bit of the blame and the glory. But if you turn professional, you are promised with certain amount of compensation for your service and you are expected to give certain kind of service, what else can you expect? It is always money and success. Thus, all quarters have to be mentally and most important, financially stable so that nobody (including but not limited to footballers, management team and the supporters) is a victim. The footballers have to understand that, it is not always money and the management must be able to meet the need of the footballers. Then we can move forward little by little to see our country’s football team in the same wave as the other teams in the region. The players have to be more confident (but not over confident), believe in their selves and their team mates, work as a team, be more discipline and fight wholeheartedly. Let us put the name of Malaysia back to where it belong, let us cherish the days where we can be proud of our country and may the days came back to us so we can taste the sweetness of joy (and the smell of the players sweat). Now, the Kedah team theme song: -
Yakinkanlah diri sendiri
Berjuanglah sejiwa murni
Tekun berani
Sesungguh hati
Demi sukan mengharum negeri
Biar jasa jadi kenangan
Hijau Kuning lambang kemenangan
Jelapang padi tempat sanjungan
Negeri Kedah Darul Aman
Kedah, Kedah pantang kalah
Walau sakit jatuh dan rebah
Bangun lantas semula gagah
Bujur lalu melintang patah
Hijau Kuning tanahku
Darul Aman Negeri ku
Hijau Kuning darah kuNegeri Kedah Negeri ku (2x)
posted by Kampong_Boy at
3:11 pm
1 Comments:
A seven year old boy from Klang was at the center of a Magistrate courtroom drama Friday morning when he challenged a court ruling over who should have
custody of him.
The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents, so the judge awarded custody to his aunt. The boy, however, stated that his aunt beat him more
than his parents and refused to live there.
Therefore, the judge suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they beat him more than anyone. In an unprecedented move, the judge dramatically allowed the boy to choose who should have custody of him.
Custody was finally granted to the Malaysian national football team this morning.
The boy firmly believes that they are not capable of beating anyone.
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