Rijkaard, Lazaroni set up camp in Kuala Lumpur

Fancy meeting Frank Rijkaard in the flesh? The former Barca boss, now coaching Saudi Arabia, will take his team to Kuala Lumpur next week to play Indonesia on Oct 7, the same day Malaysia travel to Canberra for the friendly with Australia. Read here and his squad here

Rijkaard, Euro88 winner and Josep Guardiola's immediate predecessor at Camp Nou

Sebastiao Lazaroni is also due for a training camp in Kuala Lumpur with his boys from Qatar as revealed here

Lazaroni took Brazil to the World Cup in 1990 and guided Fenerbahce to a famous win over Man Utd in the Champions League in October 1996

Congratulations, TonyM

My ex-boss Tony Mariadass must be congratulated for having organised a gathering for footballers of yesteryears recently. Read his blog here and the wide coverage in the mainstream press here, here and here

Live radio broadcast! Vincent Fernandez and S. Radhakrishnan...wow. Cikgu Vincent, my former PE teacher. Read 1975 revisited. Radhakrishnan remains a great entertainer with a booming voice

He came up to me uttering "I love your show...Dengan Izin", "are you John Engkatesu..."Yes"...aha we spoke over the phone a few years back, I asked you about your daughter, Juliana..."Ah, you remember"...I remember a poster of you and the Selangor team in Dunia Sukan...tapi dulu rambut you kerinting...hahaha

Legends in their own right, from left Bill Tegjeu, Datuk Fauzi Omar, George Das, Lazarus Rokk and Png Hong Kwang. To enter the pre-editorial training scheme at NSTP, applicants were required to write an essay...I wrote mine in English, mentioning two names - Adibah Amin and Fauzi Omar - as the most influential figures in my life. Really. Bill, always the quiet one, at the NST sports desk. Rokk, ah you either love him or hate him. Fauzi and George share the limelight in Old Songs Still Play while Rokk rolled back the years in a farewell piece in his Counterpoint column Thanks for the good times, guys. Png, who was the brains behind news portal Malaysian Insider, covered the Malaysian football team at the heights of their power

Datuk M. Kuppan, coach of the 1976 squad, said Supermokh trained, trained and trained, while legend has it Datuk Soh Chin Aun used to sleep wearing the full gear so that he would go straight to the padang and not be late for training the next morning...

In a football match in Seremban, Datuk Peter Velappan was a player. The referee was my father. Bahwandi Hiralal, right back of the 1972 squad, was in the thick of the action at the Memali tragedy in 1985

Isam (extreme left), Ramlan (third from right) and Zulfikar (second from right) know me well, because very few bother to ask for microfiche, a film-negative like sheet that contains archived stories, from the NSTP resource centre! I asked Datuk Soh, eh Datuk are you sober ah? "No lah, I'm Soh Chin Aun" ahahaha

Langkawi's star attraction

One of my earliest assignments outside Kuala Lumpur was Jelajah Pantai Timur, a road race covering the east coast and organised by the Kuala Lumpur Cycling Association (KLCA). Cycling was a big sport and still is in Berita Harian. Covering M. Kumaresan, Nor Effandy Rosli, Suhaimi Keton, Harris Fadzillah Osman, Mutalib Mydin and his brother Abdul Malik Mydin (later to become Wira Samudera) was fun.

I can imagine the thrill of covering the World Championship in Copenhagen. The road race was won by Great Britain's Mark Cavendish, who gave due credit to his team mates here

The Brits are today leaders in the sport of cycling. Why? Read here. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for Azizulhasni Awang's dream of landing the Olympic gold is of course a Brit, Chris Hoy. In the meantime though, Cavendish's domestique and the man who was 13 seconds short of becoming the first ever Brit to land a victory in a Grand Tour will be in Langkawi next month.

Chris Froome (picture) will be taking part in the Langkawi International Mountainbike Challenge 2011. He will be the star attraction. Read here

My apologies to Datuk Raja

Out of my own free will and accord, I wish to offer a humble apology to Datuk K. Rajagobal, the national football team coach and his family, for an entry titled "A Raja's ransom" which has since been removed from this blog.

My mistake was to reproduce a comment from the comment's section of Haresh Deol's blog without batting an eyelid and then relate it to an interview I had with Rajagobal last month pertaining to his salary. The comment from Tukang Kebun FAM, I must admit, was very personal in nature and should not have been reproduced in this blog. The comment from Tukang Kebun FAM has also been removed from Haresh's blog.

Again I offer my deepest apologies to Datuk Rajagobal and family if the posting had caused significant distress and emotional anguish to them.


Yours sincerely,

Rizal Hashim.

Pentingnya ejen atau wakil pemain

Pada 1999, aku menulis dalam the Malay Mail agar Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli dan Juzaili Samion diwakili ejen agar segala urusan berkaitan kerjaya mereka di Strasbourg berjalan lancar tanpa membebankan Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia (FAM). Tapi pembesar-pembesar FAM tak ambil pusing pun.

Sekarang Safee Sali sudah ada Zack Rahim, senior aku kat sekolah dulu (tapi dia tak kenal, hehe), manakala Safiq Rahim pun khabarnya selalu ditemani pengurus ke mana-mana. Sekarang sudah sampai masa pemain yang ada wawasan lantik seorang wakil, ejen atau syarikat mengurus kerjaya mereka, bukan saja dari segi prospek perpindahan, bahkan merencanakan masa depan mereka. Tapi berapa kerat sanggup melabur sedikit agar masa depan lebih terjamin? Baca kolum terbaru ku di di sini

No title sponsor

It is a pity that the ATP Malaysian Open gets underway tomorrow, without a title sponsor. Is it because two individuals who initiated the idea are no longer in the good books of the powers-that-be? Read the Star report
Anyway Ahmad Deedat Abdul Razak, Si Yew Meng, Ariez Elyaas Deen Heshaam dan Wan Muiz Wan Abdul Aziz will be flying the Jalur Gemilang.

ORDER OF PLAY - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011
CENTER COURT start 10:00 am
Qualifying - [WC] A Abdul Razak (MAS) vs J Wang (TPE)
Qualifying - [WC] Y Si (MAS) vs S Poplavskyy (UKR)
Qualifying - Z Zhang (CHN) vs A Deen Heshaam (MAS)
Qualifying - S Lipsky (USA) vs T Chen (TPE)
COURT 1 start 10:00 am
Qualifying - [WC] W Wan Abdul Aziz (MAS) vs A Lazov (BUL)
Qualifying - M Ledovskikh (RUS) vs M Gong (CHN)
Qualifying - K Matsunaga (JPN) vs J Lisnard (MON)
Qualifying - M Elgin (RUS) vs J Rojer (AHO)

Safee v Ramli

Di saat Safee Sali berdepan kekangan birokrasi dan undang-undang imigresen United Kingdom, baca di sini, Ramli mudah menyarung jersi Manchester United dan bergesel bahu dengan Nani, Wayne Rooney dan Bobby Charlton. Hebat!

Ini sekadar satu ilusi...ditampal pada kumpulan peminat Rembat Kosmo dalam facebook.

Kalau Ramli main, tentu team Malaysia boleh beat Jepun. Asalkan umur dia bawah 23 tahun. Hehe. Kalau jiran dia dapat 9A pada 1998, 13 tahun kemudian Ramli score sebiji di Old Trafford.

Teori konspirasi di sebalik Ramli, Ramli bintang Man U, siapa Ramli, Ramli gempak dan fan page Ramli

Dalam hal Safee, cukup penting media arus perdana memberi gambaran yang betul sebelum menulis berita-berita yang terlalu positif. Safee jaring seribu gol dalam latihan dan ujian pemilihan pun, sukar nak tembus UK. Baca interviu dengan pengerusi Cardiff.

Malaysia 3 Jepun 0...

Kemenangan Malaysia ke atas Jepun dengan jurang tiga gol berlaku pada 23 September 1971, dalam kelayakan Olimpik Munich 1972 , maknanya genap 40 tahun lalu, hasil hatrik Syed Ahmad Abu Bakar, warden penjara kelahiran Johor yang berkelana ke Pulau Pinang dan Perak.

Bek kanan Dell Akbar dan penyerang utama, Syed Ahmad, gambar di IJN 2003...

Kesebelasan negara - Wong Kam Fook, Dell Akbar Khan Hyder Khan, M. Chandran, Soh Chin Aun, Namat Abdullah, V. Krishnasamy, Hamzah Hussein, Wong Choon Wah (Yap Eng Kok), Salleh Ibrahim, Looi Loon Teck, Syed Ahmad Abu Bakar.

Hasil umpanan lintang Loon Teck, Syed Ahmad menanduk gol pertama. Choon Wah melorongkan bola sebelum Syed Ahmad memperdayakan penjaga gol, Kenzo Yokoyama untuk gol kedua sebelum Syed Ahmad sekali lagi menanduk gol ketiga hasil umpanan Loon Teck. Syed Ahmad ini media darling, handsome dan terror main zaman tu. Tapi sekarang dah dilupakan ketika rakan-rakannya ramai dah dapat Datukship. Malangnya, dia tercedera di bahagian belakang dan kempunan ke Sukan Olimpik di Munich. Dell pun injured.

Selepas kemenangan bergaya itu, Dave McLaren melihat luka di kaki Syed Ahmad dan sanggup menjilat luka itu.."I fought for you, Syed, I fought for you," merujuk kepada keputusan jurulatih Jalil Che Din yang seawalnya mahu meletakkan Eng Kok sebagai top striker.

Bayangkan Jepun tampil sebagai pemenang pingat gangsa temasya Olimpik di Mexico, diterajui penyerang sensasi Kunishige Kamamoto (gambar, kanan) ditemani Ryuichi Sugiyama selaku dua serangkai serangan.

 Fast forward pulak ke 1980, Malaysia terikat 1-1 dengan Jepun di Stadium Merdeka pada 30 Mac, 1980...

Beruntunglah mereka yang menyaksikan Soh Chin Aun, James Wong, Santokh Singh dan Hassan Sani pada zaman kehebatan mereka. Aku tunjuk anak-anak ku youtube...

Apabila Jawatankuasa Olimpik Antarabangsa (IOC) mengehadkan bola sepak kepada pemain Bawah 23 tahun pada 1991, tertubuhlah Barcelona Babes dipimpin Chow Kwai Lam, antara tonggak pertahanan Ong Kim Swee...esok beradu strategi dengan Jepun...

Aku sekadar wartawan tempelan, meninjau perkembangan antaranya Malek Rahman, Shahrin Majid, Adnan Ibrahim, Lee Thean Ewe, Salahuddin Che Rose, Azman Adnan

Pada pra-Olimpik 1999, Malaysia diundi bertemu Jepun lagi...

Antara anak buah Hatem Souissi ialah Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli, Rosle Derus, Sany Fahmi, Tengku Hazman Raja Hassan, Shawal Johadi, M. Gopalan, Khalid Jamlus, Chow Chee Weng, Gilbert Cassedy Gawing, Yuzaiman Zahari, Nik Fadly Nik Leh

Dilayan oleh dua rakan wartawan Jepun...minum teh aje

Pas ke Stadium Nasional, Tokyo

Jurulatih Jepun Philippe "White Witch Doctor" Troussier dengan Hatem serta Zainul Azhar Ash'ari (Utusan Malaysia) dan Hazli Hussaini (Harian Metro) di Hong Kong

Pusingan pertama di Hong Kong, Malaysia tewas kepada Jepun 4-0...mana tidaknya, Shinji Ono, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Junichi Inamoto, Shunsuke Nakamura dan Atsushi Yanagisawa menterjemahkan taktik Philippe Troussier dengan handal...di Tokyo, keputusannya 4-0 juga. Hatem mengeluh "You look at the defender (Miyamoto), he's very intelligent, quick to find solutions"...2004, Miyamoto julang Piala Asia selaku kapten Jepun...Ono, Inamoto dan Nakamura cipta nama di Eropah. Di Jepun, Akmal bertentang mata dengan buah hati, cinta pandang pertama yang membawa kepada jinjang pelamin.

Di bawah B. Sathianathan, skuad pra-Olimpik 2007 yang menampilkan Aidil Zafuan Radzak, Amirulhadi Zainal, Azrul Ahmad, Sabre Mat Abu dan Safiq Rahim tewas 2-1 di Kuala Lumpur dan 3-1 di Tokyo.

Esok, Kim Swee berdepan cabaran menggunung tinggi, setinggi gunung Fuji.

Kaptennya Khairul Fahmi Che Mat

Yang bakal berdepan skuad rata-rata anggota pasukan yang muncul juara Sukan Asia 2010 di Guangzhou..

Rasanya, Kim Swee akan menyandarkan harapan kepada Fahmi, Mahalli Jasuli, Zubir Azmi, Muslim Ahmad, Fadhli Shas, K. Gurusamy, Shukor Jusoh, Fandi Othman, Wan Zack Haikal Wan Noor, Irfan Fazail dan A. Thamil Arasu. Irfan yang menjaringkan gol ketika menewaskan Taiwan dan Lebanon, menanggung kecederaan. Disebabkan kemahiran teknikalnya, Irfan yang baru pulang dari pengembaraan di Slovakia, adalah sumber terbaik untuk mendapatkan gol. Fahmi pula harus sibuk berdepan Kensuke Nagai dan Hotaru Yamaguchi, antara sandaran jurulatih Jepun, Takashi Sekizuka.

Ingat, 40 tahun lalu, pedang samurai berkecai...tapi kita realistik, asal jangan jadi tofu di Stadium Tosu sudah!

With TG, part 1 - It's more than football

"There's no place for sentiments in football, Datuk."

"Yes you are right..." Datuk Chan Tien Ghee, chairman of Cardiff City, nodded in agreement.

The subject of discussion was Safee Sali and his two-week trial in the Welsh capital, or CCFC to be specific.

Cardiff boss, Malky Mackay, does not seem too impressed with the Malaysian goalscoring ace. Read here and also here

Currently a non-EU player applying for the permit must have played for his country in at least 75% of its competitive 'A' team matches for which he was available for selection during the previous two years. In this respect Safee meets the criteria.

And his country must have averaged at least 70th place in the official FIFA world rankings over the previous two years. - Aha, this is the issue! Malaysia's current ranking is 146. Our highest ever was 75, over two decades ago. 

If a player does not meet those criteria, the club wishing to sign him may appeal if they believe that he is a special talent and "able to contribute significantly to the development of the game at the top level in the UK." - Now, that's also a bit beyond Safee la. Honestly.

Does the same set of rules apply for a player to be eligible for consideration in the NPower Championship league, the second-tier of the English game?

"Yes, so it's not true that its easier for a player to be eligible for signing in Npower Championship than the top flight," said TG in a tete-a-tete with loose cannon at his office in Sri Hartamas.

That's why in my column on the Astro Arena website here, I highlighted the fact the Thai trio of Teerasil Dangda, Suree Sukha and Kiatprawut Saiwaeo were shipped to Switzerland and Belgium for not meeting the criteria despite having signed for Manchester City under the patronage of Thaksin Shinawatra in 2007! And kindly note Thai superstar Kiatisuk Senamuang and Indian captain Baichung Bhutia were content on warming the bench and making occasional appearances for Huddersfield Town and Bury in the lower rungs respectively, in 1999-2000.

Based on the stringent regulation, TG concedes that any Malaysian player wishing to obtain a work permit and ply his trade in the UK would have to go through a third country.

But he's willing to move mountains if Safee, Safiq Rahim or any Malaysian player creates an impression on the manager.

"We are willing to help any potential candidate realise his potential at CCF."

TG lays down his cards on the table, so to speak, which centre on community-based and grassroots development programmes

The two hours yours truly spent with TG this morning reinforces my belief his foray into football is not publicity-driven. It goes beyond the usual business transaction and boardroom dealings.

TG was pleased to reveal for the first time ever, the Malaysia Merdeka Day celebrations in the UK will be held outside London this year, with Cardiff City Stadium playing host on Sept 25.

"We will have a dance troupe from Terengganu and a Malaysian chef specially flown for the occasion," said TG.

And the old boy of La Salle PJ who spent 15 years in London but never set foot onto a football stadium until 2009, was quick to remind CCFC has made its mark in other aspects, for instance read here.

To TG lawyer businessman-turned-football club owner, it's more than football...its a journey of life that he wants to share with his partner Tan Sri Vincent Tan, family and the rest of Malaysia too...

To be continued...

Saksikan legenda di Padang VI

Beberapa legenda bola sepak dan ahli Persatuan Bekas Pemain Bola Sepak Negeri dan Kebangsaan akan cuba mengembalikan keremajaan sambil memperagakan sentuhan pertama atau first touch yang melekat esok, sempena Hari Malaysia. Pemain era 60-an, 70-an, 80-an dan 90-an akan beraksi dalam Kejohanan Jemputan Bekas Pemain Kebangsaan Sembilan Sebelah. Baca blog bos lama aku, Tony Mariadass di sini

Kolum di arena.my

Jika sudi, jenguk nukilan dan luahan rasa serta pendapat personaliti Astro Arena, Akbar "Den Dah Koba" Sahari, Bazly Azmi, Burn AF1, Beatrice Krishnan, Fina Nasrom, Hafizan Halim, Sharon Wee dan Edleen Ismail di laman web Astro Arena. Aku pun tumpang sekaki bercerita mengenai QPR dan Cardiff City di sini serta drama dan dilema BAM di sini.

RIP Uncle Peter, Joseph

I wrote a brief tribute to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics hockey team here, a team that boasted Peter van Huizen. Peter, who started the Van Huizen tradition of playing in the Olympics, passed away on Monday. Satwant Singh Dhaliwal wrote a touching obituary here. We bid farewell too to another sporting figure from Seremban, M. Joseph. Read the Malay Mail here

Arena 802 hujung minggu ini

Zaman pra-Astro, RTM sumber maklumat dan siaran langsung pelbagai jenis sukan - daripada bola sepak, badminton, lumba basikal dan temasya sukan seperti Sukan SEA dan Sukan Asia serta Sukan Olimpik. Aku jadi pelanggan Astro dari awal kewujudannya, pada 1996 dan bersyukur dapat menonton bola sepak Piala Asia, Piala Dunia dalam definisi tinggi, ragbi Piala Dunia serta macam-macam lagi acara sukan.

Dari segi sukan tempatan pula, ingat ketika Piala Dunia ISTAF baru-baru ini, apabila Astro Arena menampilkan saluran khas 802 bagi menampung siaran langsung pelbagai kejohanan sukan serentak?

Saluran 802 dihidupkan semula Sabtu dan Ahad ini, khas buat pelanggan Astro.

Sabtu ini, Saingan Piala Malaysia, siaran langsung di antara Perak dan Sabah di saluran 801, disusuli Terengganu dengan Sime Darby FC secara tertunda juga di 801. Serentak di 802 pula, perlawanan sumbangsih Liga Hoki Kebangsaan di antara KLHC dan TNB di 802 bermula 8.0 malam.

Keesokannya, Ahad, kejohanan sepak takraw Utusan Malaysia zon tengah, separuh akhir 10 pagi hingga 1230 tengah hari dan akhir 4 petang hingga 6 petang secara langsung menerusi Grandstand Ahad di saluran 801, diikuti Kelantan lawan Sarawak dalam peringkat kumpulan Piala Malaysia bermula 8 malam.

Di saluran 802 pula, Kejohanan Freestyle Dunia dari jam 1.0 tengah hari hingga 4 petang disusuli Liga Hoki Kebangsaan di antara UiTM dan UniKL pada jam 6 petang dan Nur Insafi lawan YNS jam 8 malam.

Ini dia...Raja Freestyler kita...

Tentera Abe Ya

Bekas jurulatih pasukan kebangsaan dan Kelantan, B. Satiananthan, akan mengajar Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) cara membedil pasukan lain musim depan. Khabarnya Sathia atau Abe Ya bagi penyokong Kelantan, diberi bajet mewah RM10 juta untuk memikat pemain seperti Indra Putra Mahayuddin, Hairuddin Omar, Norfarhan Mohammad dan pasangan kembar Negeri Sembilan, Aidil Zafuan serta Zaquan Adha Abdul Radzak.  Sathia dua kali bawa Kelantan ke final Piala Malaysia, termasuk kejayaan cemerlang memeluk piala itu musim lalu, sebelum digantung enam bulan gara-gara mengkritik Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia (FAM). Dia dilantik mencarta kemajuan akademi bola sepak Kelantan bergelar ARMY tetapi biasalah, jurulatih tugas dan kecintaannya memijak rumput, memantau pemain dan bercerita taktik setiap hari, bukan menaip di komputer bimbit sambil bersandar di kerusi empuk. Jadi Sathia dari ARMY ke Armed Forces...

Cuti-cuti London

Temasya Sukan Olimpik akan berlangsung tidak sampai setahun dari sekarang. Prospek kita? Cuba baca pendapat bekas ketua pengarah Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN), Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad, yang dulu mengamalkan belanjawan berhemah ketika menerajui agensi kerajaan itu dari 1993 hingga 2005. Bacalah prospek acara terjun, peluang skuad badminton dan anggota skuad elit yang terlalu besar. Artikel terakhir itu menarik kerana ia mempersoalkan jumlah atlet elit yang terlalu ramai, sedangkan mereka bukan prospek pingat ketika Cuti-Cuti di London musim panas 2012 nanti.

Guess who's driving BAM?

This picture was taken in May 2010 shortly after a Kafe Sukan recording ahead of the Thomas Cup. Invited to discuss the team's preparation were Datuk Nadzmi Salleh, Rexy Mainaky and Fairuzizuan Tazari. More than a year later, Fairuz has left BAM to train under Razif Sidek at KLRC, while Rexy has been reassigned to take charge of the women's doubles after he was ditched by his proteges - Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong - who wanted to train under Pang Cheh Chang.

An award-winning businessman trained in actuarial science, Nadzmi has been BAM president since 2000. Like any successful, rich and highly educated corporate captain, Nadzmi is used to being chauffeur-driven. Chairman of Proton the national carmaker, Nadzmi is only too happy to allow someone else do the driving in BAM. But does he know the destination? When Nadzmi was invited for Dengan Izin, I asked him, "how is it that the coaching and training committee is chaired by the secretary?"

Since he was appointed as secretary of BAM, replacing P. Ganga Rao, Ng Chin Chai, a lawyer from Negeri Sembilan, is bent on putting in place a system designed to produce champions...

Supported by BAM general manager Kenny Goh. Read his appointment  here. Some say he is King Kenny, no, not King Kenny from Anfield, but King Kenny from Bukit Kiara to suggest he is ruling BAM. The power behind the throne...the driver of the BAM limousine...is it true ah? Cannot be maa...but could be also...

Nadzmi flanked by the two "drivers" of Malaysian badminton...is the road leading to stardom? Or are we doomed?

Misbun's drive (be it determination or his shuttle drive) was hard to read...rigid training under the sweltering afternoon heat, or waking up at 4.0am to train Lee Chong Wei. Oh, not to forget, Rashid Sidek's bronze medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Hafiz Hashim's 2002 Commonwealth Games gold and the 2003 All-England title as well as Lee Chong Wei's silver medal in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 came as a result of his toil and training regime. Read  here

Rexy was the driving force for the duo who crushed all en route to the Asian Games gold medal in 2006 and the All-England title in 2007. I remember vividly Rexy's tears flowing down his cheeks a few days before the scratch pair of KKK-TBH astounded everybody with the men's doubles gold medal in Doha. When it appears KKK-TBH were struggling to rediscover their form, I was critical of Rexy...but could there be a hidden hand, or a hidden agenda?

If you read this Star article between the lines, what do you see?

And yes, in a matter of nine months, BAM has managed to relieve two coaches of world calibre of their duties. They have been replaced by two coaches who had never played at the highest level...one of them "tukang shuttle drill" saja...

So tell me, who's the troublemaker, who's the trouble-shooter? While we seek answers to our woes, my Proton Iswara is not going anywhere...brake trouble la...ada parking kat sebelah rumah tu...

Previu Piala Malaysia

Esok sepak mula Piala Malaysia. Tidak seperti negara lain, kemuncak bola sepak Malaysia bukan kejuaraan liga tetapi Piala Malaysia, atau dulu Piala HMS Malaya yang diperkenalkan pada 1921 tetapi ditukar nama pada 1967.

Secara ringkas, previu ikut kumpulan.

Kumpulan A (Perak, Kedah, Johor, Sabah)

Daripada empat pasukan ini, hanya Sabah belum bergelar juara Piala Malaysia. Perak berdepan kemungkinan hilang tonggak yang akan dibicarakan pada 7 September atas tuduhan mengeluarkan kata-kata kesat terhadap pengadil. Norizan Bakar dan Wan Jamak Hassan bukan saja bekas jurulatih kebangsaan, bahkan pernah menjulang Piala Malaysia, Cikgu Jan pada 2004 apabila lontaran Adrien Jurad Chamrong gagal didakap Megat Amir Faisal Ibrahim dan Wan Jamak pada 2009 apabila membantu Negeri Sembilan menamatkan penantian 61 tahun. Jadi mereka tahu resipi untuk muncul juara. Johor dalam proses membina semula reputasi manakala Sabah terlalu bergantung kepada Zainizam Marjan.

Ramalan: Kedah dan Perak ke suku akhir
Pemain bakal menonjol: Baddrol Bakhtiar (Kedah)

Kumpulan B (Terengganu, Negeri Sembilan, PKNS, Sime Darby)

Susah nak ramal kedudukan empat pasukan tetapi selaku juara Piala FA, Terengganu dibuai keyakinan tinggi. Kepantasan adalah kunci taktik Irfan Bakti Abu Salim berteraskan larian tiga serangkai Abdul Manaf Mamat, Hadi Yahaya dan Ashaari Samsuddin, dibantu Joseph Kallang Tie dan Ismail Faruqi Asha'ari. Negeri Sembilan dikendalikan Azraai Khor Abdullah yang tahu nikmat muncul juara tapi tertekan dengan pengurusan yang mahu results, manakala Sime Darby dilihat mampu jadi pakej kejutan biarpun tanpa kehadiran pemain bertaraf bintang.

Ramalan: Terengganu dan Negeri Sembilan ke suku akhir
Pemain bakal menonjol: Abdul Hadi Yahaya (Terengganu)

Kumpulan C (Kelantan, Felda United, Johor FC, Sarawak)
Sekalipun tanpa Khairul Fahmi Che Mat yang tegas mementingkan misi skuad pra-Olimpik, Kelantan memiliki keupayaan melepasi halangan. Ada kekuatan di semua posisi dan daya kreativiti Norshahrul Idlan Talaha kunci melebur kubu lawan. Felda United dan Johor FC bakal berebut tempat kedua, dengan kedua-dua pasukan menyandar harapan kepada pemain veteran untuk mencarta hala tuju. Jika Johor FC bergantung harap kepada Rezal Zambery Yahya dan Eddy Helmi Manan serta Rahman Zabul dan Mat Saiful Mohammad, Felda mengharapkan Liew Kit Kong, Nizaruddin Yusof, Hamsani Ahmad, Kaironnisam Sahabuddin Hussain dan Azi Shahril Azmi untuk menyuntik keyakinan kepada anak buah E. Elavarasan. Sarawak pula mampu cipta sedikit kejutan, memandangkan Robert Alberts, arkitek kemenangan Kedah pada 1993, membimbing Bujang Senang. Bobby Gonzales di depan, Wong Sai Kong di tengah dan lima pertahanan yang kental mungkin formula yang cukup untuk menidakkan Felda atau Johor FC.

Ramalan: Kelantan dan Johor FC ke suku akhir
Pemain bakal menonjol: Norshahrul Idlan Talaha

Kumpulan D (Selangor, T-Team, Kuala Lumpur, PDRM)

Misi menjulang Piala Malaysia buat kali ke-33 harus memberi tekanan kepada Selangor. K. Devan sudah menang pelbagai gelaran tetapi masih kempunan Piala Malaysia. Tewas bermakna Devan harus ucap selamat tinggal kepada Selangor. T-Team dibarisi bintang lama yang berpegang kepada reputasi silam tapi harus miliki pengalaman mara ke suku akhir setidak-tidaknya. Kuala Lumpur pula berdepan masalah kewangan dan Razip Ismail tiada jalan lain selain berdoa dia masih ada kerja musim depan.

Ramalan: Selangor dan T-Team ke suku akhir
Pemain bakal menonjol: Amirulhadi Zainal

Pemain pinjaman seperti Failee Ghazli Muhammad (dari USM ke Perak), R. Surendran (Pahang ke Kelantan), Yusaini Hafiz Che Saad (ATM ke Sime Darby) dan G. Jeevananthan (USM ke Selangor) boleh bawa dimensi berbeza kepada pasukan.

Terus terang, aku mahu lihat kejutan. Kalau Sime Darby atau Sarawak ke suku akhir, ia bakal cetus fenomena baru. Bola sepak Malaysia harus sentiasa disuntik kesegaran dalam bentuk kejutan.

Satu lagi, setiap pasukan kena ada manual Liga M (gambar bawah) yang diberi kepada semua pegawai pasukan pada taklimat awal musim. Kalau baca dari A ke Z, pasukan negeri atau kelab sedar bahawa:

kalau keluarkan kata-kata kesat kepada pengadil atau menyerang secara menghampiri dengan agresif, garang atau memarahi dengan cara menyentuh, memegang, menolak, memegang baju, boleh dikenakan tindakan gantung dua perlawanan secara automatik dan didenda. Kalau lambat jawab surat pertuduhan, macam yang dilakukan oleh Persatuan Bola Sepak Negeri Perak (PAFA) dalam kes lima pemain - Shahrulnizam Mustapa, Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli, Nasril Nourdin, Azmeer Yusof dan Syazwan Roslan - pun kena tambah hukuman.

Pasukan kelab atau negeri juga kena pandai nak menang kes. Kalau ikut kod tatatertib FAM, rungutan dan aduan terhadap pegawai pertandingan (bermakna pengadil dan kawasan sewaktu dengannya) mesti dibuat dalam bentuk bertulis dan dihantar kepada Setiausaha Agung FAM dengan menyatakan bukti lengkap seperti klip video atau gambar. Jadi kenalah ada pegawai media yang pandai rakam video sambil ketuk story dalam laman web.

Ada kemungkinan Kedah lawan T-Team, Johor FC lawan Terengganu, Kelantan lawan Negeri Sembilan dan Perak lawan Selangor pada suku akhir. Separuh akhir Kedah lawan Kelantan, Terengganu lawan Selangor. Final Terengganu lawan Kelantan, ulangan final Piala FA. Ini ramalan saja...hehe

Berjihad...

Ramadan dan Syawal yang meninggalkan kesan mendalam pada aku kerana perginya empat individu buat selama-lamanya sambil menanti hari pembalasan.

Datuk Hassan Ahmad, kutemui di depan Istana Budaya tidak lama dulu, sempat mengambil nombor telefon bimbitnya. Seorang ulat buku, tokoh budayawan dan cendekiawan.

Aku dewasa dengan penulisannya yang bersifat kritis, tajam dan penuh substance yang mengajak kita berfikir. Seawal 1991, arwah menulis mengenai sistem sekolah yang meminggirkan nilai budaya, kemanusiaan dan ilmu. Buku Imbasan yang menghimpunkan tulisan arwah dalam Dewan Masyarakat dan Dewan Budaya satu collector's item, bagiku. Baca latar belakangnya di sini

Keluarga iparku terdidik di Sekolah Tunku Malik, Kulim dan guru agama mereka, Ustaz Azizi Abdullah, penulis tersohor. Baca blognya  di sini. Pernah aku terserempak dengan arwah di taman permainan sebelah Seri Malaysia Kulim tapi terlalu segan untuk menegurnya. Rugi rasanya...baca kenangan Zainal Rashid Ahmad  di sini

Bekas Ketua Pengarah Pelajaran, Tan Sri Dr Abdul Shukor Abdullah

Arwah (dua dari kiri) antara anggota delegasi FAM membuat kajian di Jepun pada Jun 1999. Diketuai Allahyarham Datuk Paduka Ahmad Basri Akil, dianggotai Datuk Dell Akbar Khan, Ron Smith, B. Sathianathan dan Zainal Abidin Rawop.

Aku tumpang sekaki melawat Verdy Kawasaki. Arwah Tan Sri di kanan, arwah Datuk Basri di tengah, Sathia di kiri...banyak berbincang mengenai bola sepak, apakah dasar di Jepun boleh diterjemahkan kepada polisi yang sama di Malaysia dan sama ada Kementerian Pelajaran mampu atau tidak melaksanakan beberapa perancangan di peringkat sekolah...arwah Tan Sri tersenyum lebar apabila aku sebut aku budak St John's kerana arwah pernah jadi pengetua VI. Malangnya selaku bekas penggiat ragbi dan pejuang dalam sukan, arwah Dr Shukor tidak dapat melaksanakan sepenuhnya wawasannya.

Noramfaizul Mohd Nor yang menemui ajalnya di Somalia, seorang yang sopan, tidak banyak kerenah dan bersikap positif. Dunia lebih indah jika semua bersikap seperti arwah. Antara yang menunaikan solat jenazahnya Perdana Menteri dan orang kenamaan serta rakan-rakan seperjuangan dalam media. Pemergian secara terhormat. Masih teringat aku ketika menyampaikan pas media Malaysia bertemu Chelsea pada 2008 kepada arwah.

Bagi aku, keempat-empatnya berjihad dengan cara masing-masing. Pemergian mereka kerugian besar buat negara. Generasi muda tidak mungkin mahu mendalami pemikiran individu seperti arwah Hassan atau Azizi, apalagi mengenali sumbangan Abdul Shukor. Moga Allah mencucuri rahmat ke atas roh mereka. Al-Fatihah.