pt1
Last nite was the nite when I witness that the Malayan Tigers are not that weak against the mighty London's Russian Lions. Yes I am talking about Malaysia vs Chelsea FC. For the moment Malaysia looked like creating an upset. I have to say that I am really impressed that our National team looked organised from the back. They manage to snuff off most of Chelsea's bombardment.
I can see the glimmer of light now in our national team. Only 15 years ago we were the top 80 in the FIFA rankings. The mental toughness the Malaysian team showed are really impressive and not getting overwhelmed against the likes of Anelka, Deco, Malouda, Joe Cole, Lampard, Terry and the rest! The Malaysian Keeper Mohd Helmi Eliza Elias for me is the most impressive. I am kinda disappointed when the Man of the Match went to Fat Lamps. He barely did anything impressive. I for once manage to watch the pass n volley master live the impressive Deco. His range of passing and his volleys are really one to savour.
Well one thing I am sure is really obvious is that the Malaysian players are mostly one head shorter then the Chelsea players. That is one thing WE need to improve on. I can see that we are struggling to win any ball in the air. BUT.. we manage to clamp down any threat from set pieces.
And as usual the complaints from visiting "world class" team are the pitch. "Too bumpy, lucky our players didnt get hurt... etc etc". Well as Tony Cottee once said... "the mushroom on the Shah Alam Stadium are the size of watermelons." Kinda hurt when Shah Alam is suppose to be the second largest stadium in the country after Bkt Jalil Stadium. I am kinda baffled why Selangor FA do not try to improve it.
Well from a publicity point of view.. we can take this performance to build on for tournaments to come as this will propel football crazy nation back to what we are suppose to do... support your own local team!
---------------------------------------------------- pt2
I really hope that Astro or any other local channels try to show more local football. They need to pump up the hype more now. I remember back then when local football was sponsored by Dunhill. The hype and publicity generated was so high. The ads, live telecasts, the prizes, competitions and the prestige of the tournament was much better. But since the ban for tobacco company to have any above the line ads, one sector that took the massive slump was Football. This was where we see the formation of the Super League and Premier league, just to boost the glamour of the league. I guess it doesnt work. Teams change players so fast that no one can barely remember anyone. For example, Man Utd have Giggs, Neville and Scholes as their Mr. Man Utd, Chelsea have Terry as Mr Chelsea, as to Gerrard to Liverpool, Shearer to Newcastle, Puyol to Barca, Maldini to AC Milan ... our local football teams lost that. The days of Azman Adnan to Selangor, Ramos and Ramli Sari to Sarawak is gone. The team lost its identity.
There isnt a cult hero the fans have to support and look up to anymore. Cmon... teams need someone to look up to. Coaches seems to be more famous then the players. Some hype might help. Mokhtar Dahari, R Arumugam, Soh Chin Aun, Santoskh Singh, Chow Chee Keong was someone we looked up to. I remember the days when i was looking up at certain players as they are established names in local football Zainal Abidin, Dollah Salleh, Fandi Ahmad, Abbas Saad, Azman Adnan, K Sanbagamaran, Rusdi Suparman, ahh.... the proud moments of Malaysia... Well lets hope this hype can be brought back again!
And to all Malaysians... the football may suck... but its fun to support something that is generally ours!
Last nite was the nite when I witness that the Malayan Tigers are not that weak against the mighty London's Russian Lions. Yes I am talking about Malaysia vs Chelsea FC. For the moment Malaysia looked like creating an upset. I have to say that I am really impressed that our National team looked organised from the back. They manage to snuff off most of Chelsea's bombardment.
I can see the glimmer of light now in our national team. Only 15 years ago we were the top 80 in the FIFA rankings. The mental toughness the Malaysian team showed are really impressive and not getting overwhelmed against the likes of Anelka, Deco, Malouda, Joe Cole, Lampard, Terry and the rest! The Malaysian Keeper Mohd Helmi Eliza Elias for me is the most impressive. I am kinda disappointed when the Man of the Match went to Fat Lamps. He barely did anything impressive. I for once manage to watch the pass n volley master live the impressive Deco. His range of passing and his volleys are really one to savour.
Well one thing I am sure is really obvious is that the Malaysian players are mostly one head shorter then the Chelsea players. That is one thing WE need to improve on. I can see that we are struggling to win any ball in the air. BUT.. we manage to clamp down any threat from set pieces.
And as usual the complaints from visiting "world class" team are the pitch. "Too bumpy, lucky our players didnt get hurt... etc etc". Well as Tony Cottee once said... "the mushroom on the Shah Alam Stadium are the size of watermelons." Kinda hurt when Shah Alam is suppose to be the second largest stadium in the country after Bkt Jalil Stadium. I am kinda baffled why Selangor FA do not try to improve it.
Well from a publicity point of view.. we can take this performance to build on for tournaments to come as this will propel football crazy nation back to what we are suppose to do... support your own local team!
Malaysia: Mohd Helmi Eliza Elias, Norhafiz Zamani Misbah, Irwan Fadzli Idrus (Asraruddin Putra Omar), Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak (S. Subramaniam), Mohd Fauzi Nan (Mohd Shafizan Hashim), Mohd Amirulhadi Zainal (Mohd Nizaruddin Yusop), Mohd Hardi Jaafar (Zairo Anuar Zailani), Indra Putra Mahayuddin, Mohd Shukor Adan, Mohd Safee Sali (Mohd Zaquan), Hairuddin Omar (Mohd Khyril Muhymeen).
Chelsea: Petr Cech (Carlo Cudicini), John Terry (Branislav Ivanovic), Ricardo Carvalho (Alex), Wayne Bridge (Ashley Cole), Deco (Andriy Shevchenko), Michael Essien, Joe Cole (Florent Malouda), Shaun Wright Philips (Paulo Ferreira), John Mikel Obi, Frank Lampard, Nicolas Anelka (Franco Di Santo).
end of pt1..---------------------------------------------------- pt2
I really hope that Astro or any other local channels try to show more local football. They need to pump up the hype more now. I remember back then when local football was sponsored by Dunhill. The hype and publicity generated was so high. The ads, live telecasts, the prizes, competitions and the prestige of the tournament was much better. But since the ban for tobacco company to have any above the line ads, one sector that took the massive slump was Football. This was where we see the formation of the Super League and Premier league, just to boost the glamour of the league. I guess it doesnt work. Teams change players so fast that no one can barely remember anyone. For example, Man Utd have Giggs, Neville and Scholes as their Mr. Man Utd, Chelsea have Terry as Mr Chelsea, as to Gerrard to Liverpool, Shearer to Newcastle, Puyol to Barca, Maldini to AC Milan ... our local football teams lost that. The days of Azman Adnan to Selangor, Ramos and Ramli Sari to Sarawak is gone. The team lost its identity.
There isnt a cult hero the fans have to support and look up to anymore. Cmon... teams need someone to look up to. Coaches seems to be more famous then the players. Some hype might help. Mokhtar Dahari, R Arumugam, Soh Chin Aun, Santoskh Singh, Chow Chee Keong was someone we looked up to. I remember the days when i was looking up at certain players as they are established names in local football Zainal Abidin, Dollah Salleh, Fandi Ahmad, Abbas Saad, Azman Adnan, K Sanbagamaran, Rusdi Suparman, ahh.... the proud moments of Malaysia... Well lets hope this hype can be brought back again!
And to all Malaysians... the football may suck... but its fun to support something that is generally ours!
Comments