Brad Jones (also of Middlesborough) is touted to take over the no.1 spot from Mark Swarzher.

I'm going to go with either Australia or Iran to win it.

Malaysia don't have a chance in hell. They can't even beat Hong Kong FFS. They boys have no spirit, no discipline, no will and no ambition. Kinda sounds like the England team doesn't it? If our boys don't want to play for the team, boot them out and bring in players that do, same thing McClaren should be doing.

Even if Malaysia were grouped with Macau, Laos and Philippines, I wouldn't dare say they would top the group.

If that happens, I'll pinch you to wake you up from your dream.

Are you kidding? I doubt Malaysia will win a single game, let alone qualify from the group stages. We've got Iran, China and Uzbekistan in our group, I won't be surprise if we don't score a single goal. We might fluke a goal against the Uzbek's but China and Iran are World Class opposition, while we aren't even ranked in the top 3 in SEA.

There was no other way Malaysia would have qualified for it. With the ludicrous amount of money the government is throwing around to promote our country, perhaps we'll soon be bidding for the World Cup. God knows it's the only way we'll ever qualify for it. 4 hosts? It's probably because a) of the amount of money that the host nation(s) has to shell out and b) not one of those countries have sufficient world class stadiums to host the tournament.

Mars? Any reason as to why you picked Mars? None right as it's probably the only other planet you know of in our solar system. And I suppose you come from Never Never Land. If you need a definition, here it is:



No I'm not patriotic but yes, I am realistic. You honestly think we deserve to win and are going to win, given the politics that exist in Malaysian football? Or aren't you even aware of that? You want me to eat my words? Make me.

If that we always true, Andorra would have won the World Cup and Watford, the Premier League

What pisses me off is that a lot of younger posters here are being patriotic blindly, thinking that it's all peaches & cream. We have all spoken extensively on the state of Malaysian football and if anyone wants to be filled in, they can visit the thread. Instead they all seem to pity our national side and think we deserve better (hmmm why does this seem familiar?). It is time we stopped consoling our players each time they dish out mediocre performances against Laos, Philippines and Macau, and start being really harsh with them. It is time to stop baby-ing them and fooling ourselves into thinking it is alright to be average.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Jul 9 2007, 04:16 PM

This is why many teams opt to bring their own chefs along for the trip. Food poisoning is a problem especially when teams visit foreign soil. After watching Malaysia play numerous times though, I reckon it will take more than food poisoning to prevent a pounding. As host country, we are invited to participate which really fortunate for us because I don't think we would have made it through qualifying.

It is no big secret that not all the best players get selected for the national squad because of certain reasons. I still remember when our national team got beaten by someone like Malaysia Telecom in a friendly before leaving for an international tournament. The only time you'll find me jumping about for Malaysia is during badminton. Why? Because you can see our shuttlers fighting to the end (with the exception of Hafiz), they really want to win. Our footballers on the other hand often look unmotivated and lost, they look contented and have no desire to improve. Unlike our shuttlers, I do not think they deserve our support.

You are right on this one. They don't have a regimented diet plan because Malaysian players are spoilt. When Akmal Rizal wanted to come back to Malaysia from France, he cited missing Nasi Lemak as one of the reasons. Let me break it down, 'Nasi' = Rice, 'Lemak' = Fat. Hmmm... doesn't exactly sound like a proper diet for someone wanting to keep in shape does it?

I was actually very proud of our national team back in the days of Arumugam, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, Mokhtar Dahari. This was a time when our squad was truly 'muhibah' and the players were proud to represent the country, a far cry from now. This was a time where we drew with an England B team and even beat the United States. It was a time when South Korea and us where the powerhouses of East Asia. Just look where we are now. Corruption, greed and politics have killed us.

Better days:

I am looking forward to a really competitive tournament and I will still be looking out for our games. However I won't feel sad or disappointed when we get beat.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Jul 9 2007, 05:28 PM

I was going to go with a friend of mine until we discovered the matches are live on ASTRO.

There are a few reasons why a lot of people I know don't feel patriotic but it's all political, so let's not go there. Younger posters will have absolutely no idea what this means of course, unless you actually read the papers and keep up with current events. If you don't do a little research before talking about something you don't know a thing about.

You question my patriotism? I attended 2 games of the 1992 Thomas Cup held @ Stadium Negara. I was cheering our team on as we beat Indonesia in the finals. I saw players like Foo Kok Keong puking his guts out fighting for the pride of our nation? When is the last time you saw one of our footballers do that? We were singing patriotic songs way before the match began. After the game, I walked all the way from the stadium to the KTM station with a group of friends, each waving our national flag. I still remember a traffic policemen stopping me and asking me who had won. He smiled and cheered when I told him the result before on with his job. The stadium erupted and Malaysians of all races were singing and dancing in harmony. When was the last time you have seen this? These are different times my friend whether or not you choose to accept it.

I have spoken extensively about why someone like me still cheers for them, but hates our football team with passion. If you look at our badminton squad, you see what our football team was once like. Our badminton squad is multi-racial, just like our nation. Our football squad is not, why? Go figure. Our badminton team fights till the end, our football team is mentally weak and gives up before the end.

If anything, winning will only lull our team into a false sense of security. They will grow complacent and will see no reason to improve. As it is, we are in a state of decline, just look at the other South East Asian countries. Vietnam beat the UAE (once World Cup qualifiers) and Thailand drew with Iraq (again, former World Cup qualifiers). We haven't just stagnated, we have fallen behind whilst our rivals have surged ahead. It is because that some choose to follow our squad blindly that they grow complacent thinking the crowd will still be behind them if they dish out insipid performances. Heck even fans of England have booed their team of the pitch, instead of just blindly supporting them when they know the team is underachieving and the players aren't giving it their all. So before any of you criticise those of us who frown upon our national team, do some thinking instead of blindly supporting thinking you are doing the team a favour. It is no big secret that many of our players are comfortable, lack ambition, lack discipline and motivation. If you have seen videos of our Malaysian team in the 70's, you'll notice a distinct difference in quality, heart and most of all, nationalism. If you haven't, I suggest you do. Speak to the older generation and you'll see how they speak fondly of past Malaysian teams, where the players, comprising of all 3 major races truly fought for the country, unlike now. Now, they share the same opinion that people like me do, that our team is not worthy of support. Instead, they need a good kick up the ass.

Once again, do a little thinking before you frown upon people who criticise our team. It's better they lose now and realise they have to improve, than to fluke a couple of results, fooling them into thinking it is all good.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Jul 10 2007, 12:22 PM

I followed Malaysian football up to the point it became a full fledge professional league. Back then I was an avid Selangor supporter and even collected all their newspapers clippings. Those were the days where local heroes like Zainal Abidin Hassan, Dollah Salleh, K. Gunalan were complemented by foreign talent like Zoran Nokolic, Pavel Korejcik, Karel Stromsik and at one point EPL stars like Tony Cottee and former Ipswich striker, Chris Kiwomya. The difference in the quality of play then and now is so so so apparent. We even scored two in a friendly against an England team featuring Gary Lineker, Chris Woods, Stuart Pearce, David Batty, Des Walker, David Platt and Mark Wright. Lineker scored all four of England's goals while Matlan Marjan hit a brace and the game ended 4-2 in favour of the English. Then the beginning of the decline. Our league became professional, more money was pumped in by sponsors and corruption has brought the game to the state it is in now.

Well that's the difference between us then. I do look at the bigger picture and our country as a whole. While people may choose to ignore politics and brush reality aside, I choose to fret over it. I find it hard to love something that doesn't love you back? Unrequited love sucks don't you think?

That's the one mate.

There is a difference mate. Supporting your club through thick and thin is admirable. However you have chosen to ignore much of what I said in my previous post. It is like supporting the corruption that exists in our football (and nation), and also encouraging our players to play with little zeal, ambition and determination. It is supporting their right to be mediocre. I'm too tired to repeat myself so if you've read my post and still don't get the point I'm trying to make, so be it.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Jul 10 2007, 01:42 PM

Fair enough mate, I'm not trying to force people into believing what I do. I'm trying to get people to understand.

As for supporting our football team, we can agree to disagree. I do support Malaysia, but only in sports where the players actually give a damn like Nicole David in Squash, Karamjit Singh in Rallying and of course, our badminton squad, well all of them except for Hafiz. As for football, I also supported them in the good old days when they team played with such passion. I just feel that the current squad and the FAM don't deserve any pity because they basically shot themselves in the foot.

In the bigger scheme of things I also feel like I'm treated as a 2nd class citizen in my own country but this is a topic for another thread.

That's the thing with me mate, I don't accept things as easily. I find that when people say, "it's like that one lah, cannot change, just accept it", they sound like defeatists. Ideally, I think we should try out best to be perfectionists or at least make an attempt to fight for perfection.

As you say though, to each his own.

Just seeing boys giving their all will be good enough for me, regardless of the result. I don't want them to have given up by half time.

Coincidentally, the last match I attended featuring Malaysia was when we played China. That was some years ago though.

China has always complained about the heat and humidity here much like most of the other nations. They have also not been enjoying the best of results, recently losing to the USA 4-1. If there is a time to beat them, it's now.

Can't understand why they left out Nanthakumar. We lack height. We so nearly conceded, super high ball over the defence from China.

Drop him after just 1 poor game? We just conceded from a high cross and Nantha is our tallest player, hmmm...

Is anyone watching it on RTM2? Captain obvious is co-commentating.