A new football tournament that brings together a mixed pot of talent from the various continents comes into being next month.

Called the invitational Intercontinental Cup to be staged in Kuala Lumpur on May 15-25, the eight-nation tournament promises to be a 10-day football spectacle, featuring the stars of tomorrow, today.

Born of an intense passion and love for the game, the Cup is an avenue for teams bound for the Beijing Olympics to fine-tune their preparations.

In Olympic terms, Argentina, Nigeria and Australia are footballing giants who stand an equal chance of mounting the podium in Beijing.

The world would then be watching the Intercontinental Cup with bated breath. Co-incidentally the draw of the Olympic Games will beheld on Sunday, just two days after today’s launch.

Argentina were drawn in Group B of the Intercontinental Cup with the likes of Croatia, Ghana and Australia, certainly the Group of death for the inaugural event. Hosts Malaysia will do battle with Iraq, Rep of Ireland and Nigeria in Group A.

The Intercontinental Cup is promoted and financed by renowned player in the global stage, Octagon, with the co-operation of FA of Malaysia as the organisers.

Octagon UK head of football Phil Carling said he was happy to organise a tournament in Kuala Lumpur considering the nation’s passion and devotion for the game.

“The game of football transcends ethnic, linguistic, social and economic boundaries. Its greatest asset is its simplicity and its language instantly understood anywhere.

“We hope by having this tournament here, it will add to the momentum of making Malaysia and Asia the developmental focus of the next millennium,” said Carling.

FA of Malaysia general secretary Lt Jen (Rtd) Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad believed Malaysia has the infrastructure, the facilities and the human capital to make the event a resounding success.

“On the pitch, it also gives the national Under-23 side much-needed exposure ahead of the Tiger Cup in December,” said Datuk Azzuddin.

Argentina, the Athens 2004 gold medallists with an impeccable track record in age group football, shall start as favourites to retain the gold in Beijing.

Having his resources scattered worldwide, Argentina Olympic coach Sergio Batista can call upon starlets Lionel Messi, Fernando Gago, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero to don the Albicelestes.

Malaysian fans may bear witness to Batista’s homegrown talent such as Jonathan Maidana, Damian Escudero, Augusto Fernadez, Gabriel Paletta, Alejandro Gomez or emerging talents already based in Europe like Ezequiel Garay, Emiliano Insua, Franco Di Santo and Lucas Biglia.

Australia or the Olyroos boast of a number of talented youngsters, including Matthew Spiranovic of Nurnberg, James Wesolowski, Adrian Leijer, Adam Federici, Neil Kilkenny and Dario Vidosic.

Graham Arnold’s squad will have a camp in Australia early in May before jetting off to Malaysia. Five weeks ago, the Olyroos drew 1-1 with Mexico in front of a 40,000 crowd in San Francisco.

These matches continue an impressive match schedule for the Olyroos who qualified for the Olympics with a 1-1 draw in Pyongyang, North Korea last November.

With Danny Vukovic unlikely to play at the Olympics, Arnold may use the Kuala Lumpur stint as an opportunity to have a look at Liverpool’s promising reserve team goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis.

The Nigerian Olympic squad are already dubbed Dream Team IV, illustrating the nation’s high expectations of Samson Siasia’s disciples.

The Flying Eagles became the final team to earn a ticket to Beijing but are likely to be the most charismatic of the African representatives.

With the 2005 World Youth Championship runners-up team forming the nucleus of Siasia’s soldiers, Nigeria seem on course to repeat the golden effort of the 1996 generation that boasted Nwankwo Kanu.

Everton striker Victor Anichebe and Olympique Marseille’s Taye Taiwo are the pick of the current crop.

Siasia who guided his team to the African Youth Championship and later the World Youth Championship runners-up in 2005, has already been linked to the hotseat at Bolton Wanderers.

The matches will be played at the KLFA Stadium in Cheras and the MBPJ Stadium in Petaling Jaya. Tickets for the preliminary rounds will be priced at RM10 and RM15 for the terrace and grandstand respectively. For the semis stage onwards the tickets will cost RM15 and RM30.

yeah!
first match for malaysia will be against Ireland.
cheer for our national team and please go to support the game!

any comfirmation about Argentina squad,i didnt expect Messi will come but i want to watch them if player like Santander`s Garay and both Boca player come here

They are pulling out becoz of 'internal' problem in their league and their place been given to Chile.

malaysia lost 1-3 to ireland

This post has been edited by razlan: May 16 2008, 10:37 AM

its ok to lost 1-3 then lost 0-5 to uzbekistan

This post has been edited by MADReaLJL: May 16 2008, 10:44 AM

the first half goal..all can be avoided..careless defending..

yeah, already expect that anyway

i heard Adebayor play in this tour,is it right

Yes it's true. So Arsenal fans out there, go meet your star!

who else caught the whole match?the malaysian lads can pull off some pretty good passing moves but they severely lack composure in front of goal...and we were denied two clear penalties!haih dunno what the ref was thinking..that really changed the game.it was good to see them fighting to the bitter end though and getting a consolation goal in injury time.the spirit shown was at least something to shout about

yeah, agree with u.. its simply awesome watching our players keep trying to find the goal until the end

when Malaysian next game??vs Iraq right

Is Malaysia hosting all the matches?

yeah dude, glad to hear this from u...
watched the match and their training for the tourney since i'm having practical training under their physio.
have to tell u guys that they lads did train hard and they work as a team. although lost ytd but they put in a great performance apart from a few mistakes that cost the soft goals...
while watching, heard a lot of fans cursing and ranting bout the team......kinda disappointed me though...
replying to ur post,
wat i heard from coach Sathia in his training today.
"although we lost but we played well ytd, people will know that...
itu Media mungkin tak nampak, tapi penyokong semua bukan buta,mereka tahu, they will support the team.... "
no offence to others, but i really we as Malaysian will support the national team through thick and thin instead of cheer for the team at triumph but mengutuk when lost in game.
ytd i saw the boy who came to take photograph with the players and he was telling his dad that he wanna be like the players when he grows up....but ytd he was cursing and scolding like hell while watching the match....how ironic....

---

Added on May 16, 2008, 7:43 pmtml 9pm at stadium MPPJ

---

Added on May 16, 2008, 7:44 pmyes, all the games will be played at malaysia.
it's either cheras stadium or MPPJ stadium.

This post has been edited by pandazhun: May 16 2008, 07:44 PM

pandazhun,

i request you to do us the malaysian supporters, a big favour. go and tell sathia, to change that bloody goalkeeper (syed adney) and the veteran shukor adan.. i think the perak keeper is better than syed adney. and of course, all the football supporter know that helmi eliza of kedah is the best GK in malaysia, but why did sathia didnt chose him instead??

again, i really2 hope you can get that message to that sathia. thanks..

This post has been edited by presario9: May 16 2008, 07:50 PM

u sure bro? when will be his next game? i want to go n get his siggy!!

hahahahaha.. i have to agree with u bro, especially on Shukor Adan. What the heck is wrong with Sathia la? That Shukor guy plays like crap man. I was swearing like hell during the game when he had the ball! haha..

first round schedule: ICC 2008

go and meet the future and current stars



Images of the match between Malaysia and Ireland can be seen here: Malaysia vs Ireland Photo Gallery

haha, dude....
I have no comment over this....
but i do like Zamani ,he really played well...and professional...

---

Added on May 16, 2008, 9:25 pmerr...heard that Adebayor will be coming on monday wor...
malaysian winger and full back played v well ma...

This post has been edited by pandazhun: May 16 2008, 09:25 PM

the bad about our team is the defence and the players IDEA.. they dont know what to do when they enter the opponent's half.. so I hope they'll improve for tonight's game..
I HaTe shukor since 4ever.. he dont have the quality to be the team captain..

Syed Adney is good when going punching the ball but really bad to even deflect the ball... nasrail is better..

For the Merdeka and AFF Helmi Eliza should be the one...

Khyrill Muhymeen should be given more time with the ball...

hi guys how can i get to both stadiums for the games?klfa and the one in p.j any lrt or bus.cab//cant getting nanything online

u need to get to any putra station nearby kelana jaya area than take a taxi to the stadium which is near impossible... thats how i got there... to get home u need some1 who is nice enough to give u a lift to somewhere where u can get a taxi.

we lead Iraq 1-0 now

Malaysia won! Superb goal from Safee Sali

it sound imposible but we beat Iraq which their senior squad is Asia`s Champions

well the goal was scored by zaguan kan.. not safee.. BTW Congratz to our U23 team... still I do think Shukor needs to be replace with someone else before the merdeka tournament..

C ya guys in the next GAME...

safee scored for malaysia..an acrobatic goal

it was Safee, number 10.. zaquan was the one who missed the header..

thanxs god syed adney didnt play.. one down(syed adney), one more to go (shukor adan)....

yeah.. dismiss both and we can have a slightly better chance to survive the match againts NIGERIA... ooo I thought Zaquan yg score.. hahaha.. sori my mistake..

KLFA (Cheras Stadium) u can get there via LRT and transit by bus.

more info click here

wow i dun understant that info man...

umm...
take Star LRT(ampang line) to the nearest Bdr Tasik Selatan or Maluri, then take U45(Maluri) or T424(BTS) stop at HUKM.

or as long as u can find HUKM then ure there...
the Stadium just opposite the Hospital..

Hi, to those of you who want to get to the stadiums by public transport, here's how you get there.

MBPJ Stadium

- Take the LRT to the Kelana Jaya LRT Station
- From there, take the RapidKL Bus T624 and get down at the stadium.
- Alternatively, you can take a taxi from the Kelana Jaya LRT Station as well (that way you can ask the driver to pick you up when the game finishes)

KLFA Stadium

- Take the LRT to the Bandar Tun Razak LRT Station
- From there take a cab to the KLFA Stadium. It should cost you about RM3.10

I hope this helps, enjoy the matches!

no one watching this game live? its at 811

malaysia not playing well

what the score now

its a draw game
1-1
safee sali scored for malaysia.. nice goal i must say
nigeria goal came from pathetic defending by daudso.. really stupid goal
we cant afford that type of goal anymore.. if it comes from classy attack nvm, but the noobinees of our defends really exposed
lucky norhafiz showed his experience to prevent us from conceeded again

I have to say that this draw is good enough for us. But still they need to work harder if they want to win the AFF this Dec... best of luck to Harimau Malaya...

field condition play a part in the goal we conceded...the ball suddenly bouncing... but i think our defender should deal with it better...
nice assist from Norshahrul Idlan Talaha(by chest)..n nice goal by safee(volley)...3rd goal of the tournament..not bad huh...

This post has been edited by Great.CR7: May 20 2008, 01:01 AM

can safee sali become top scorer of the tournament?

he (safee sali) volleyed again r? haha.. kaki volley rupenye dia tu..

Malaysia have 1 goal from each game.. not bad at all..

but now not qualified.. last night better go for the win than draw
but its ok.. at least we were not became sayur team

The result is fine as Malaysia is the lowest ranked team in the tournament but still we manage to get a draw againts the Dream Team IV..

But I hope the boys train harder with their short passing(they need to keep it accurate and fast).. For the striker duo.. they need to work together if they want to penetrate the goalkeeper...

But still there are players need to be change.. Shukor must go.. Syed Adney must go...

did syed adney play last night? the other keeper is not good also la.. dhla gemok. haha

1)Syed adney not playing..

2)IMHO the 2nd goalkeeper is good..he save a lot btw..if not surely lost the game..did u really watch the match? ur just watching his perut ...

kaki volley and kaki rugby.. always shooting to the sky

why i din see Adebayor playing wan????

adebayour TOGO ke NIGERIA?? argh confuse la.. But the 2nd keeper handle the ball better than syed adney...

Even with Nasrail's (2nd keeper) bulky but short physical he can do his job nicely..

adebayor togo la...

newspaper tak sebut nama adebayor pun....

adebayor x femes
safee sali score lagi banyak hahaha

Adebayor is not coming.

You're saying the reserve goalkeeper is BETTER than Syed Adney? Come on man. Against Iraq he made 2 very simple mistakes that led to Iraq nearly scoring only to be saved by the post twice. He also made so many simple errors.

Against Nigeria, within 10 minutes he had already made 2 mistakes, and made so many more mistakes throughout the whole game. I don't know why Sathia sticks with him.

Seriously, Syed Adney was good enough to at least secure trials with an EPL side. He is good, and I do not know why some are saying the reserve keeper is better.

The 2nd keeper has showed that he should only be played in one position and one position only - sitting on the bench.

Honestly said, did u guys think this Malaysia team really improve? All their opponent playing lenggang lenggang only.

im not as negative as u, so i think malaysia played a better football than asian cup last year
but still not good enough to challenge any cups, except pestabola merdea

got trial doesn't mean adney's better...each player has his own form..sumtimes up n sumtimes down...

They can play better than Asian Cup just bcoz the opponent is not as strong as the Asian Cup team.

im shock u not mentioning Syed performance against Ireland at all..

That dude who back syed must be in love with her sister... hahah no offence but I myself went to the stadium and watch the boys played from start until the end..

GOOD Perfomance:
Khyril Muhymeen
Senior Defender
Safee Sali(although he is very lucky but he did score when theres a good chance)
Asrarudin Putra
Nasrail(2nd Keeper)

OKAY Perfomance
Zaquan adha
Badrol Bakhtiar
Amirul Hadi(suprisingly okay)
Norshahrul Idlan Talaha(Need more time playing with the team)

Worying Perfomance
Syed Adney
Shukor
Daudsu

there are several others but I cant remember their names.. so that is what I saw from this tounament..

i dun think daudsu is that bad.. he played good games in the initial two