That's why we need to hold on to the memories of yore. A way to remind us Malaysia not too long ago was quite respected on the pitch.
Having written extensively on the history, the politics and the tactics of the game for almost two decades, it was somehow nice to walk down memory lane, thanks to an invite from Zareen.
Taking my family to see Datuk Soh Chin Aun, James Wong, Santokh Singh and Hassan Sani in the flesh was worth the drive to KLIA Pan Pacific.
I told my kids: "OK, ini Datuk Soh Chin Aun, dulu boleh score bila-bila dia nak, stokin sampai pergelangan kaki, ini Santokh Singh, ambik freekick pakai outstep, ini James Wong, dia score winning goal Malaysia dalam pra-Olimpik 1980, ni Hassan Sani, yang bagi pass tu"
"this is Datuk Soh Chin Aun who could score almost at will and rolled his socks down to the ankles, Santokh who could deliver a freekick with the outstep of his boots, James the matchwinner in 1980 and Hassan, who produced the assist".
Along the MEX highway en route to KLIA, I saw a huge Maxis billboard featuring King James.
I think with all the euphoria on everything foreign with the forthcoming World Cup, it's nice for the telco to feature the four legends as part of their promotional campaign.
I shall be writing a series on this, including quotable quotes like "a crushing blow" by James and Chin Aun's "we were lucky"!
On the way back, we saw another huge Maxis billboard near Tesco Ampang, this time featuring a flying Hassan!
p/s I'm not being paid to write this (haha)
3 comments:
Looking forward to the post brader :)
Kudos to you, bro. A very good write-up indeed.
Our football heroes do deserve all the recognition for their passion and contribution to the country.
However, we must not live in the past and to glorify the 'good old days'. That's probably the reason why our standard of football remains unchanged since the 80s.
We used to beat Japan and Korea back in the 70s and 80s. Since after that, Japan has qualified for World Cup 4 times and 8 times for Korea Republic.
Sadly, till today we can't even qualify to play in the coming edition of the AFC Asian Cup 2011.
Keep up the great job, bro. Hopefully, with the combine effort by the private sectors and all Malaysians, our beloved football will have a struggling chance of survival.
no, I do not think for a minute that you were paid to write what you wrote..it is just the sportsman in you..and the realisation that our govt did no do enough to recognise those who contributed..towards football or sports as a whole..and naming a futsal court after Mokhtar was adding acid to insult..that a telco is doing it should, by any accounts, be like a tap to the ears of our political masters..no that it has any effect..seeing that they generally have thick ears...cheers..
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