"This coming Sunday November 25th 2012 8:45pm Kick off time at the Stadium National Bukit Jalil, Malaysia will begin their defensive of their AFF Suzuki Cup tittle by facing Singapore in the opening game of group B. Malaysia will their campaign having failed to win any of the four pre-tournament friendlies. A handful of the Malaysian supporters are beginning to question the head coach after another disappointing act. Just recently against lowly Bangladesh.
The recent performances were very disappointing or toothless to say the least. This is not what the Malaysian supporters were expecting leading up to the tournament. The players and the coaching staff have a lot of work to do, if they want a successful campaign ahead.
It’s been awhile since Malaysia had large national pool of talented player to pick from. One of the many reason is the youth development investment under coach Ong Kim Swee who is recognized as on of the best coaches in the region when it comes to work with youth talent. Another is the recent competitiveness in the Malaysia leagues. With giants Kelantan, ever present Negeri Sembilan, consisted Selangor, surprise package Pahang and cashed pumped ATM setting the standards high.
It must have been difficult for head coach K.Rajagopal to pick from. So far out of the 24 players he gas in the team so far are:
Goalkeepers: Khairul Fahmi, Farizal Marlias, Izham Termizi.
Defenders: Faizal Muhammad, Fadhli Shas, Irwan Fadzli, Aidil Zafuan, Mahali Jasuli, Bunyamin, Zubir, Azmi Muslim.
Midfielders: Shakir Shaari, Amar, Gary Steven Robbat, Safiq Rahim, Baddrol Bakhtiar, Wan Zack Haikal, Kunalan, Zaquan Adha.
Forwards: Hazwan Bakri, Khyril, Norhahrul, Safee Sali.
Recently Zaquan Adha has gotten injured so Pahang’s Azamuddin Akil’ll replace him. The Malaysian supporters have considered the injury sustained during the Malaysia Cup Final to Kelantan central defender Subramaniam to be a major blow ahead of the tournament.
Datuk K. Rajagopal will have to make a tough decision to omit two players from the squad. As per-rules stated each participating team must submit a list of 22-players a few days before the competition starts. So who will be omitted? Many speculated it will be a goalkeeper and a midfielder but who knows.
Personally I’m quite disappointed with the omission of defenders Amiridwan Tajuddin of ATM and Nik Shahrul of Kelantan. Both have performed admirably for their respective clubs.
What will be the minimum expectation for Malaysia going into the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup? Well many Malaysian supporters are expecting Malaysia to reach the final for the second time. But it is a realistic target? If the Malaysian side shows their hunger and desire to win the cup for the second time in their history and as well back to back, yes it is. One of the few roadblocks for Malaysia is Malaysia themselves. Just as expectations started to rise, the team failed to deliver on occasions. Switching off when the pressure is on. It has been a familiar trait over the years. If they can avoid falling prey to this old habits then the sky’s the limit for this generation of Malaysian footballers.
With our recent slump, there’s no need the call to push the panic button just yet. Remember back in 2010? The opening game versus Indonesia, Malaysia lost 5-1, in the end we won the Suzuki Cup.
All in all, Football is nothing without the fans. Our support to the national team is priceless. So we as Malaysians must flood the Stadium National Bukit Jalil, fill up the mamak shops showing the games, show our love via social media and other forms of support starting this Sunday versus our fierce rivals Singapore and march on to the final!"
There was a lot of optimism and hope.
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