Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Devils are coming...

It was in 1981 that my late Ayah took me to Merdeka Stadium for a friendly match. There was this team called Manchester United playing a Malaysian side. The touring Red Devils played a series of matches in the country.

Ayah knew my interest in football because I used to hog the idiot box whenever a football match was on, be they delayed, live matches or weekly round-ups and the passion was translated into action on the pitch in front of our house. That was also the year Ayah and Mak bought me the book European Cup, 1955-1980, a great hardcover co-authored by John Rowlinson and the No 1 TV commentator, John Motson.

This pic was not superimposed...

Much to my excitement and awe, players I watched only on Big League Soccer and read about in Shoot! were playing in the flesh, the likes Martin Buchan, Lou Macari, Garry Birtles, Kevin Moran, Steve Coppell and Joe Jordan...though they were nowhere near the standards of Liverpool then (how times have changed).


loose cannon is as tall as former ManYoo right flanker Gordon Strachan

When United returned to our shores in 1995 courtesy of Glamoir World of Sports (how are you Datuk Seri Abdullah Hishan Hashim?), I was already a football writer at Berita Harian, carefully nurtured by Hishamuddin Aun (bodek). The Red Devils, without Eric and Fergie, were taken to Balai Berita, where I remember A Kadir Jasin and Ahmad A Talib reigning supreme as hosts for the occasion. They played two matches against a Selangor selection.

...and slightly taller than Peter Schmeichel. Can you recognise Beckham and Martin Edwards?

By the time Fergie unveiled van Nistelrooy and Veron at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil in 2001, I was writing for the nation's No 1 tabloid, the Malay Mail. Malaysia got hammered 6-0 and the crowd bore witness to Giggs' frightening pace, he was as quick as Watson Nyambek...and Aziz Ismail had no chance to snap at his heels. After the match, Allan Harris' face was as red as Beckham's jersey.

Posing, not buying...

Covering the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 was definitely one of my most memorable overseas assignments. But I was too busy (haha) keeping tabs on Malaysian athletes to pay a visit to the Old Trafford megastore. But I did complete the journey, as you can see from the pictures above.

The loose cannon remains the odd one out. The rest (from left) Datuk Dell Akbar Khan, Datuk Yap Nyim Keong and Datuk Zolkples Embong are die-hard ManYoo fans. Pic circa 2000. Also in picture, if you can find them, are Steven van Huizen, Datuk James Selvaraj, Datuk Sieh Kok Chi and Musa Noor Mohammad.

Datuk Razali Ibrahim (left) and Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein and son celebrating loose cannon and Harian Metro's Azahar Mohd Taib's gold medal exploits in Manchester

Manchester was memorable for a lot of reasons. One of them was Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim's triple gold medal feat. And the small group of print journalists made it a fun trip that was hard to delete from my memory bank. Lazarus Rokk (NST), Badrulhisham Othman (BH), Azahar Mohd Taib (HM), Eric Samuel and Rizal Abdullah (The Star) and Khalid Saad (Utusan Malaysia). NSTP too dispatched two photographers - Khalid Redza and Kamaruddin Ahmad.

When Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Azalina Othman Said and Khairy Jamaluddin said their piece in wanting ManYoo to come for the 2007 trip that clashed with AFC's showpiece event, the Asian Cup, I chose to highlight the fact the Government had given their word not to promote any event during that period. There was a contract that needed to be honoured and I stood by this principle in going against the current. Naturally many labelled me as an AFC lackey. Azalina's legal background did not help her much then. Khairy was of course being biased because he's a United fan and I was told he had planned to host a dinner reception for the stellar cast from Old Trafford.

For ManYoo's fourth trip to Malaysia since 1981, I intend to buy the cheapest ticket and sit down quietly at one corner and savour the moment. Or perhaps FAM can issue a pass for me?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

presto...yr fifa pass is ready.


for the game. for the world.

Hakim Amir said...

will be there in my brand new Malaysia Nike shirt (home). c u there mister looooose cannon

GombakRock said...

salam mr.loose cannon,
based on your experience,how much do you think it cost to bring man utd here??I hope no taxpayer's money were harmed...

Anonymous said...

Gambar rizal paling atas tu background bangunan tu macam pernah tengok jer. kalau tak silap bangunan lembaga getah malaysia jalan ampang.

madi said...

tulis panjang2 rupanya nak mintak pass.....hahahaha

Anak Tiri FAM said...

bro, kita tak payah terhegeh-hegeh mintak sedekah kat FAM nak pas atau tiket. Kita beli jer.

nanti tolong belikan untuk saya, nanti saya bayar balik.

Coach Wan said...

They will be coming to China as well playing Hangzhou Greentown. This club owns a massive facility, 1 mini stadium, 3 fullsize pithces and 6x 7aside pitches, hostel for youth players from age of 6, apartments for staff plus more...all in 1 huge facility. I have been there twice for friendlies against their youth team ( I'm still unbeanten there haha )
I think the Mancs will train there as well
Our club here have a close working relationship with HZ Greentown and working to get there to see their training sessions. Although I hate the Mancs...but watching them train will be a valuable experience

Anonymous said...

aaaah, the closet Man U fan finally reveals himself.

Tsk tsk tsk, minta ticket free some more



Fowler is God but Torres is the new Almighty

Anonymous said...

Hope the Malaysians do well this time. Our players will surely lose but I hope it would not be 6-0 this time around.
I used to love Malaysian football but sad to say I'm now a big fan of the Japanese national team. I even bought their jersey..

Anonymous said...

Hakim, pls call all M'sian supporters who are truly really ABU (anything but United) to support our National Team. Mr. LC pi beli tiket la!!!

Red Devil Kola Perlis said...

Aku mesti pi....Glory...Glory Man Utd...

Ni yang buat lupa diri sat ni...

I still remember that 2006... berebut player kita nak tukar jersey ngan MU

rizal hashim said...

GombakRock,

ProEvents are the agent but since Tourism Malaysia is one of United partners, I suspect the Government will have to bear some of the costs. I think it is only right that the squad be compelled to conduct a clinic where our kids be given the chance to learn from the likes of Giggs, Ronaldo and Tevez rather than the club simply holding meet-the-fan sessions lest the whole exercise be dubbed a mere commercial venture.

Coach Wan, if you get the chance to see them train, take pictures and upload them in your blog. Thanks for dropping by. You will never walk alone, hahahaha...

Anonymous said...

The Super Tigers will give them a tough time on July 18 2009 and thats what they want. Be prepared.


For the Game. For the World.

Anonymous said...

Bang Rizal tlg pesan kat Rajagopal & The Players jgnlah lupa dunia nak pi tukar jersey dgn players Man Yu. Pi la tukar kat dlm dresing room, mcm dia orng buat masa lwn Chelsea, beradap la cikit. Saya masih teringat cam na Ahmad Shahrul macam budak sekolah punya perangai dapat jersi Bekam pas2 tayang kat smua orang. Malu wooi!!! Jersi tu entah ada kudis atau kurap Bekam kita pun tak tau...Kasi tau kat Rajagopal pasang cita2 skor gol bukan setakat kejar kat dlm padang. Ayuh rakyat Malaya sokong team kita!!!