Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Malaysia v ManYoo - a review

The Red Devils' starting line-up on Saturday


Quite a number of Malaysians were wearing the yellow and black...leading the way were the guys from harimaumalaya.com

Read theDaily Mail report, ESPN Star report and bleacherreport.com as well The Star report of last night's rematch.

Surely one of the talking points remains Amri Yahyah' stupendous goal on Saturday. The 28-year old from Tanjung Karang deserved the kudos for his two goals.

A reserve in the 2001 SEA Games squad but figured highly in Bertalan Bicskei's team in 2004-2005, Amri has proven time and again that he's a man for the big occasion.

Though he was slapped with a six-month ban for spitting in a pre-World Cup match against Kuwait not long after scoring the equaliser in November 2004, Amri featured as a highly mobile attacker in the AFF Cup the following month, scoring two goals and registering five assists as well as winning two penalties.

Selangor fans still cherish Amri's contributions in producing the winning goal in the 2002 FA Cup final, and again a remarkable equaliser in April's FA Cup final against Kelantan by slipping behind the defence to convert a header just inches from the ground.

Hours after the match on Saturday, I went on TV1's Wisel Penamat with former Selangor right-back, Ismail Ibrahim, who played against ManU in 1995, and comperes, Izwan Mohd Nor and Hafizal Hamad.

I wanted to emphasise that one swallow does not make a summer. "ManU was in pre-season mode and the ultimate aim of Rajagobal's team was the Laos SEA Games. What's important is that the team continue to rectify the mistakes and improve."

"It was refreshing to see Safiq Rahim and Amar Rohidan - both members of Rajagobal's Under-20 squad in 2004-2006 - running the engine room. Shukor Adan, a mainstay between 2001 and 2008 - may have provided the leadership but lacked the distribution of Safiq, Amar, K. Gurusamy and Bunyamin Umar. If Safiq is known of his trickery, Amar, Gurusamy and Bunyamin prefer the neat and precise game."

Ismail pointed out Safiq was the team's fittest individual, a crucial component in manning the middle of the park.

Regular caller, Kamal Ganesan of Sungai Buloh, remained a skeptic. "Don't harbour false hopes".

ManYoo for the 2009/10 season

Nani will fill in the void left vacuum by Cristiano Ronaldo, as the showboater of the Red Devils. I'm not too sure whether it would be his somersaults or his goals that will register in people's minds. Owen, ah, Liverpool fans may dub him the scum but the scum's goalscoring touch has not deserted him. For sure Fergie will count on his nose for goals, even if he's half fit. Rooney, if he manages to remain injury-free, will be ManU's most important figure. But that's stating the obvious. Like Shebby said, the team lacked the crowd-pulling effect following the departure of the Latin lovers, Ronaldo and Tevez.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Malaysia menang sorak kampung tergadai. Takde pekdahnya main dengan Mu ni....

Anonymous said...

Ada..banyak wahai Sang Anon 10.32am. Say wat u may..but 4 the Nat. Team surely ts is something to cherish 4 a very long time. Imagine dia org p UK. Sapa agak2 nak main dgn dia org? At least MU nak juga main kejor-kejor main sepak-sepak dgn team kita. Positif c kit la..Support our Nat. Team. AT least team ni give a gud fight. Scored 2 goals & still tried harder in the 2nd game. Tak de lagi main kejar2 opponent utk tukar jersey mcm dulu. Kudos to the boys..cuma pas ni anda smua seharusnya kian bersemangat dan berkejor-kejor nak mewakili negara

BorakBola said...

I felt the Malaysian played quite a tidy game, compared to before. Passing pun okay, tak pressured. Defence was all out. In fact, dah lama tak tengok main relaxed macam (actually last time tengok main macam ni masa bebudak U-16 ni jugak main). I liked the fact that they were not too nervous. After a while, they played macam biasa and realised that United players ni human. Itu yang penting, itu yang players Malaysia kena sedar - Respect harus ada tapi jangan takut. Personally, I believe some players punya technical ability takdelah jauh kebelakang sangat - maybe cuma speed, fitness and strength kurang. But more importantly, decision-making yang kurang. Ini clubs lah kena tolong develop.

Anonymous said...

Aduhhhh, rupanya kawan-kawan kita di Jakarta amat marah dengan pembatalan kunjungan MU ke negara jiran itu.

Yang sedihnya, mereka mengaitkan rakyat Malaysia sebagai punca pembatalan itu.

berbakul sumpah seranah kepada Malaysia.

baca:
http://bola.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/07/19/03375766/Tiket.MU-Indonesia.untuk.MU-Malaysia

Anonymous said...

THAILAND WAR ELEPHANTS
EIGHT SEA Games Gold Medals
BACK TO BACK

1993, 1995, 1997, 1999
2001, 2003, 2005, 2007

can Malaysia Super Tigers take the Gold at Laos 2009 ?

For the Game. For the World.

Anonymous said...

bro..2002 amri score tu Malaysia cup final lah..bukan FA Cup..:)

Anonymous said...

I could not believe my eyes when the Manchester United reserve players were warming behind the goal-line of the Malaysian team, each time before a substitution was made during the secondhalf of the match.

There were at least three occasions when this happened, and each time which lasted anything between two to five minutes, there were at least three to four players running up and down the goal line.

These players were not only distracting the Malaysian goalkeeper Mohamad Farizal Marlias, but also the hordes of cameramen. While on the other end, the Malaysian reserves were warming up behind the A-boards on the track - the designated place to warm-up.

My question is: What did referee, 38-year-old, ROSDI SHAHARUL, who has attained FIFA status since 2004, 1st Assistant Referee, IDZHA SALIM, also FIFA status since 2005, Fourth Official, AZMAN ISMAIL, a FIFA assistant referee since last year, Match Commissioner, TUAN HJ AHMAD FUAD DAUD and referee assessor, TUAN HJ KAMARUDDIN SAKHARI, do about it.

There was no effort by any of these officials to address the situation. Was there double standards practiced here? Or is it that they felt that Manchester United were the untouchables? Or was it the Colonial Masters Mentality which over-powered them in their call for decisions, just because they were dealing with Mat Sallehs ?

Yes, it was a friendly match, but an International Friendly Match officiated by FIFA recognised officials. I have seen referees in the local league stop the game to ask the players to warm-up far away from the goal-line.

So what happened? Maybe the FA of Malaysia's Referees' Department would like to shed some light?

Man laksa said...

Jangan terpedaya dengan keputusan perlawanan persahabatan ini. Apakah kita lupa bahawa tahun lepas kita juga tewas 0-2 dengan Chelsea tetapi selepas itu kena buli dengan UAE 0-5?

Sesungguhnya, MU tidak bermain dengan sepenuh hati. Mungkin sekadar 60 peratus saja.

Rajasegaran said...

anon 11.22 am,
sudah-sudah la tu mengomel pasal FAM amnya dan Ketua unit pengadil khususnya. Tulisan anda macam anjing menyalak bukit. Dah bosan dengar cerita cerita lintang pukang tu.

Selagi tuanku presiden tidak maklum perkara ini, selagi itulah ianya akan lintang pukang.

Azmi said...

As I said, it was a so-so game.

I agree that United only saw this as an easy warm-up game... nothing too taxing.

Malaysia on the other hand have to look at the bigger picture. Playing against half-fit United players and not disgracing the nation does not mean much. the SEA Games should be our immediate target.

Rajagobal's boys should stay focused on that and not harp on the fact that they only let in 5 goals over 2 games against United.

The boys shouldn't let these 2 LOSSES go to their heads.

kawawi said...

Ada kebenarannya kata-kata Rajasegaran. Segala teguran tidak kira dalam media arus perdana mahupun blog, ianya akan dipandang sepi oleh pihak berkenaan. Di kepala mereka, apa yang mereka buat adalah betul dan tiada cacat celanya.

Sekadar mengambil contoh, semua perlawanan liga Premier dan Super yang sepatutnya berlangsung pada Jumaat dan Sabtu ini (kecuali Selangor lwn Pahang) telah dipinda
kepada 1 dan 2 Ogos depan.

Pembatalan saat akhir ini dibuat kerana stadium di Terengganu telah ditempah oleh pihak lain sedangkan FAM mahukan SEMUA perlawanan terakhir PERLU dilangsungkan serentak.

Untuk berlaku adil kepada pasukan-pasukan yang memerlukan kemenangan, FAM tiada pilihan lain kecuali menundanya ke 1 Ogos depan bagi mengelakkan keputusan perlawanan boleh diatur jika tidak dimainkan serentak.

Masalah baru timbul apabila Selangor tidak boleh bermain pada tarikh itu kerana akan bertemu Persib Bandung pada perlawanan Piala Selangor pada 31 Julai. Oleh yang demikian, FAM terpaksa membenarkan perlawanan Selangor - Pahang dimainkan pada tarikh asal - Sabtu ini.

Timbul persoalan, mengapa boleh pula perlawanan ini dijalankan lebih awal dan tidak serentak?

Tidak kah FAM sedar bahawa, Pahang dan Pulau Pinang masing-masing berebut tempat ke-12 bagi mengelakkan berada pada kelompok dua pasukan tercorot yang akan disingkirkan ke liga premier musim depan?

Kelebihan akan berpihak kepada Pulau Pinang kerana mereka boleh 'mencari berapa mata atau gol yang mereka perlukan' semasa bertemu Kedah kerana sudah tahu keputusan perlawanan Selangor - Pahang. Ini terbukti, sesuatu yang tidak adil buat Pahang.

Sementara itu, menurut sumber-sumber yang boleh dipercayai, perlawanan pada 1 dan 2 Ogos itu akan diadili oleh pengadil-pengadil yang baru lulus yakni terdiri daripada mereka yang tidak pernah mengadili liga utama atau lebih tepat lagi, mereka yang bukan dari kalangan selected referee untuk Piala Malaysia, September depan.

Ini berikutan pihak Jabatan Pengadil FAM akan mengadakan ujian kecergasan dan seminar persediaan Piala Malaysia pada tarikh yang sama iaitu 1 dan 2 Ogos di Pangkalan TLDM Lumut.

Mampukah pengadil-pengadil baru yang sebelum ini hanya mengadili perlawanan peringkat sekolah itu memikul tanggung jawab berat untuk mengadili perlawanan terakhir yang amat penting ini?

kawawi
Janda Baik, Pahang.