Anyone in endah parade yet? I'm waiting for Flix to arrive

3pm? You are a brave man

My friend has an extra green gate 108

Just got back from home, what a day!

Got to Endah Parade at 1pm to meet up with Squall, Flix and some other friends. Had lunch and left for the stadium at 2pm. Met up with triple02 and his mates at the LRT station. Got to the Green Gate by 2.20pm and queued up until 3pm. As I was in queue, 3 FRU trucks drove by and everyone booed them (no doubt because of what happened at the BERSIH rally). It was so hot that some dude in the crowd shouted, "woi FRU, simbah air lah, panas lah", much to my amusement There were heaps of fans waiting to get in by that time. They finally opened the gate at 3pm and we rushed to find good seats. We also needed a place to hang our banner. We were finally in! This was it!

More friends arrived including Jonno, JonC, Popsoul and Teeque. Heard from Jonno that there were some other LYN forumners in front of us as well, not sure who but I think kenlimfornication was one of em. This was the beginning of what would be almost a 3 hr wait till the match was scheduled to start. Now, unlike the training session they actually played YNWA over the PA system. My only gripe is they played it like 7 times before the game begun! That's overkill. It's a special song and should have been played just before the players entered the pitch as it is in Anfield. Someone should have passed the DJ a compilation CD of Liverpool songs. Lads on my right were singing "Field of Anfield Road", "Campione" amongst other songs. Good of em.

Anyway, both teams took to the pitch roughly an hr before kickoff to warm up much to the delight of the crowd. Kept us entertained at least. Then it was time, KICKOFF! The game started off pretty slow and yes, Carrol did look sluggish. Must have had one too many beers during last night's cocktail event. Heard Carlsberg sales were up 33% since the team arrive. Hmm... I was hoping that Kunalan would see more of the ball as Flanaghan looked to struggle with his guile and pace, twice bringing him down in dangerous areas. Syafiq's goal was top draw as we have come to expect. Brilliant striker of the ball though I felt that Jones could have organised his wall a little better. He left his near post exposed. The game only really came to life 15 minutes after the restart and I was pretty excited to see Safee Sali come on and he had a good game. Found himself in acres of space for his second goal, the first coming after a mistake by Martin Hansen. I thought Aquilani was the best player in red for the second half. He was composed on the ball and his awareness it top class. Showed some nice touches and one touch passes. N'Gog looked sharp as well. Good movement off the ball and was always a threat.

Overall, it was a decent performance by both sides despite this being an exhibition match of sorts. It's the second time I've seen the team play in the flesh, the first being in Anfield but I can imagine what it must have felt like for those seeing their heroes up close for the very first time. Nice to see a few Carra jerseys. Have always thought he was a little unappreciated as I often see "Gerrard" on the back of most Liverpool kits. The crowd was a good blend of yellow, blue and red and fans celebrated every goal. Left for Endah Parade after the game and had Nam Heong chicken rice for dinner while waiting for the traffic to clear. Ah... if only every day was like today.

P/S : For those who think Liverpool fans were hooligans for asking the kid to take his kit off during the training session, my friend confirmed that he was kissing his badge at one point and goading fans. Today, there was a bloke in front of me with a Man Utd kit on and no one asked him to take it off. There is no reaction without provocation so please don't jump to conclusions when you weren't even there.

Is right. I can spot Squall there as well.

Likewise buddy

Still perplexed as to why Brad Jones placed his wall right in the middle leaving both corners exposed. Not taking anything away from Syafiq. I think his goal was top notch as did many Liverpool fans around the world but now I see why we're bringing Doni in. Martin Hansen did himself no favours either.

It was a huge turnout and even foreign fans are impressed. Just read what they have to say on RAWK and .tv. Restaurants in Endah Parade were packed! I got to Nam Heong just in time as they ran out of chicken and were severely under staffed.

They played it 6 times before the game started. The problem is they overkilled it and should have just played it once just prior to kickoff.

From what I read on RAWK, it was pretty much the same with the commentary. Apparently, ROY Carrol was playing. No wonder he looked off colour. He should have been between the sticks!

Tell you what. We've always known they'd take the opportunity to take the piss so let it be. Let's focus on making our team look good and not others look bad. The dumbest thing is to go to the stadium, take the piss and then cry about being bullied. What the heck did you expect? A kiss on the cheek.

Guys, I actually think you were sitting next to one another without realising it. Squall, I reckon he was sitting next to your female companion. Triple02 is in the pic as well. He's the bloke in white closest to the camera with his friend who I reckon looks like Tony Fernandez.

No shit man! It was scorching. It may have been because the Gary Chow concert started @ 8.45pm in Stadium Putra. I guess they were hoping to clear the football fans before concert goers arrived. Too bad there was a clash.

Nice shot of Jonno's LFC tat and also the dude with the JFT 96 kit. Good that one so young is well informed.

Nice call on Ian Ayre. We actually contacted him when he was in Phileo Damansara. Asked if he could attend one of MyRAWK's gatherings but I guess duty calls. Now I know why! No roti canai at the pubs we watch the game at! I echo your sentiments, his appointment is a big reason the Reds were here and also why we'll continue to see a very strong Liverpool presence in Malaysia for the next 3 years years at least. Expect our fanbase to soar amongst younger fans. Also means, a lot more fans to groom and educate. Like I said earlier in reference to the manc banner, let's make our fans look good instead of theirs look bad.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Jul 17 2011, 09:46 AM

Foul language and smoking dude. I am a smoker but I hate people who smoke in when you're packed together like sardines. They keep puffing smoke in your face in it's annoying. I refrained from smoking till after the game but some just kept going like chimneys.

Nice videos. Sad that some had vacated the stadium before this rendition but still, hearing 80 off thousand fans singing YNWA is something else.

The video makes him look like a victim when in actual fact, he was an idiot and he was asking for it. Sadly though, people believe what they see especially if it's biased in their favour. Instead of focusing on the other mancs who weren't disturbed, they look at this kid and blame us for being bullies or hooligans. They could have asked themselves what this kid did to deserve this but the thing is they don't care. They want to portray us as villains. To top it off, none were there to bear witness to this in the first place. Now, Shrek had a look at this video and claims the guy was a hero. So suddenly all mancs changes their perception of him from poor innocent victim, to hero just because Shrek said so. So now, going to your rivals game with the intent to provoke them makes someone a hero. Right, and we're the hooligans eh?

I see we're revisiting an old topic again. Now let me first say this. Since our last discussion, I've made it a point to follow the national team play, beginning with the Suzuki Cup Final win over Indonesia. I've noticed we have quality players especially in the form of Safee Sali, Ahmad Fakri Shaarani, Safiq Rahim and S.Kunanlan. They may not be at the top of everyone's list but they are the players I've singled out. I only wished that Safee Sali were a little younger so he'd have a longer career ahead though he isn't exactly an old man at 27. For the benefit of the national team, I'm hoping that Safiq will finally decide to play in Indonesia to further improve his game. From what I've seen, you'll be hard pressed to find a better striker of the ball in Asia.

What's my point? If this trend continues, fans will naturally return despite the increasing popularity of the EPL. Supporting one doesn't mean not supporting the other. I saw many fans with Liverpool kits also having Malaysian headbands for example, or face paintings.

Also, it was just a friendly game. Liverpool's first visit to Malaysia ever and the first ever time over 90% of Liverpool fans here have EVER seen the team play live. Some have been fans for 20 odd years. I don't expect everyone to understand the magnitude of the occasion especially if you just casually support an EPL club. For some, it was and is a chance of a lifetime.

Now on the topic of helping the national team regain support, I've always felt it was more fruitful to guide fans rather than to talk down to them. The thing is many people either aren't articulate enough or do not have the necessary soft skills to do this. Instead you hear language like, "ah traitor to the country", "unpatriotic", etc. Now people can have a multitude of reasons for not being as passionate as you. Don't pretend to understand what they are because from what I've seen, not many are matured enough to understand what empathy is including our ministry. Their understanding of encouragement is to force. When national day comes everyone MUST fly the national flag. To promote the national car, we raised import duties on foreign cars to astronomical figures, forcing the average Malaysian to but local cars. It may take more work but I've always felt that understanding someone and addressing his concerns and issues bring about more permanent results. Then again, who likes more work right?

We now have a quality product in the form of our national team. Based on recent form, I'm confident we'll get pass Singapore. Can't say much about the Olympic Qualifiers though. Japan are a different class and we'll need to be at our best against Bahrain and Syria. In summary instead of sulking and acting out when you don't see the support you want. Try guiding and educating. Our discussions have convinced me to follow the national team again and I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before more follow suit.

I paid tribute to him as well.

http://www.iamdukered.com/a-hero-is-born

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Added on July 18, 2011, 2:49 pmAlready made plans to go with a friend of mine. Was looking for the national team kit in Bangsar Village yesterday but takde!

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Jul 18 2011, 02:49 PM

I want the yellow one dude. Sunway Pyramid right? K lah I go there for lunch occasionally since I work in Shah Alam.

The thing about the ultras is this. Often they come across as intimidating. This is just my opinion but I think it's the same with ultras of any football club e.g. in Spain and Italy.

Funny thing about passion is it cannot be bought or forced. I've a friend who loves heavy metal music and he keeps urging me to listen to songs he likes. The problem is I hate metal and try as I might, I cannot bring myself to understand his enthusiasm for it. Similarly it's very hard to describe a passion for a football team. A passion for something is built over time. If someone is expected to be passionate about watching the national team play (to the extent they attend every home match), they have to monitor the progress of the team, and know the players. This is why I feel what Rajagopal said is counterproductive to what's being done to promote the national side. Criticism alone is a negative. At least offer opinions or suggestions to make it constructive.

Local football has been suffering for some time now. It won't recover in an instant but I reckon we can all start by at least watching the national team on tv whenever they play if not the stadium. As much as it sounds like it, this isn't a Malaysia vs. Liverpool - who is better? discussion. So yeah, let's go to the stadium when we can.