Been away from my PC for a few days now but thought I'd give my 2 cents anyway. For the first time in a long time, I'm actually eager to watch tonight's match. Judging from the crowd I saw on telly during the first leg, I reckon many Malaysians have been waiting with just as much anticipation for the team to get their act together and it seems as though Rajagopal may have moulded together a quality product. I only caught the last two goals but I must say they were quality. Safee's second goal of the night was a page out of the "Les Ferdinand - How to Score Headers" text book. The young lads showed good overall technique and the team didn't look like strangers.

What do I make of the whole laser beam incident? Well, it was unsavoury. I mean you could clearly see the green beam in the face of the players and it must have been distracting. Sadly, you will get a bunch of idiots at every game that don't realise their conduct off the pitch can affect results on it. Teams have been banned from their own stadiums for violent conduct and although this incident wasn't its physical equal, it could well have led to the match being called off and us needing a goal at least in Indonesia. Still, to blame their defeat purely on the lasers is a poor excuse. In the end, they were undone by a combination of dodgy defending and quality.

After countless debates with arresandro, I must say that he has a point. Things may just be looking up. The team is young with a number of teenagers in the wings, led by veterans at what? 24 tops? If they can keep improving, I'm darn sure the fans will be back. That's what I meant though. Forget about urging fans to the stadium under the guise of patriotism. Do well and they will flock in naturally. Pull vs. Push factor. The latter is more permanent and wins all the time.