GROUP A
Malaysia, Afganistan, Nepal and Sierra Leone

GROUP B
Myanmar, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Mozambique.

1st GROUP MATCHES:

Oct 15 (Wednesday): Group A: MALAYSIA vs Nepal, 8.45pm, MBPJ Stadium, Kelana Jaya

Oct 16 (Thursday): Group B: Myanmar vs Vietnam, 6.30pm, Mozambique vs Bangladesh, 8.45pm (Both matches at Shah Alam Stadium)

2nd GROUP MATCHES:

Oct 17 (Friday): Group A: Nepal vs Afghanistan, 6.30pm; MALAYSIA vs Sierra Leone, 8.45pm (Both matches at MBPJ Stadium).

Oct 18 (Saturday)
Bangladesh v Myanmar
Mozambique v Vietnam U-23

Oct 19 (Sunday)
Sierra Leone v Afghanistan


Oct 20 (Monday)
Bangladesh v Vietnam U-23 - 6.30PM
Mozambique v Myanmar - 6.30PM

Malaysia v Afghanistan - 8.30PM
Sierra Leone v Nepal - 8.30PM

Oct 23 (Thursday)
Vietnam vs Sierra Leone(5.45pm) - National Stadium, Bukit Jalil.
Malaysia vs Myanmar (8.45pm) - National Stadium, Bukit Jalil.

Oct 25 (Saturday)
Final


FIFA World Ranking
Mozambique - 100
Sierra Leone - 133
Myanmar - 157
Malaysia - 160
Vietnam - 165
Nepal - 175
Bangladesh - 179
Afghanistan - 182

Malaysia squad
Goalkeepers: Mohd Helmi Eliza, Badrulzaman Abdul Halim, Syed Adney Syed Hussein;

Defenders: S. Subramaniam, Mohd Asraruddin Putra, Norhafiz Zamani Misbah, Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak, Mohd Daudsu Jamaluddin, Irwan Fadzli Idrus;

Midfielders; Mohd Ashaari Shamsuddin, Muhammad Shukor Adan, Mohd Khyril Muhymeen Zambri, Mohammad Hardi Jaafar, Azi Shahril Azmi, Mohd Amirul Hadi Zainal, Faderin Kadir;

Strikers: Mohd Zaquan Adha Abdul Radzak, Mohd Safee Mohd Sali, Mohd Nizaruddin Yusof, Indra Putra Mahayuddin, Hairuddin Omar.

---

Added on October 15, 2008, 7:28 pmAll group match ticket will cost RM10. While knockout match will cost RM20.

Malaysia having three mission this year to improve our football standard.

1. Win the Merdeka Cup
2. Win the AFF Suzuki Cup (formerly know as Tiger Cup)
3. Improve our FIFA world ranking and AFC ranking

This post has been edited by johnjenin: Oct 23 2008, 12:31 AM

Got live?

lol now they've brought in more noobier teams
Well the priority in my opinion is the Tiger Cup. Pesta Bola Merdeka is like... not much of a competition.
Unless of course got teams like Korea etc joining like they used to.

Wat the, where did Thailand , Singapore and Indon went?

this seriously shows a downfall of Malaysia's football .
Sack the president and vice president la please.

Malaysia football is part-timer...no...even part-timer can beat them

Mozambique - 100
Sierra Leone - 133
Myanmar - 157

Vietnam - 165
Nepal - 175
Bangladesh - 179
Afghanistan - 182

which immigrant country will come and support their team the most??....myanmar?? bangla?? FAM are making money here...

nepal,myanmar,bangla semua banyak..whtas the score malaysia-nepal?anybody knows?

edited:malaysia 4-0 nepal..damn lame la..bully noob team

This post has been edited by Aztec: Oct 15 2008, 10:19 PM

Malaysia 's national team love to self comfort

Wah looks like the standard of the Merdeka tournament is getting worse and worse... last time it was the premier competition in Asia but now it looks like nothing more than a friendly cum training session with bottom-ranked teams!

play with weak team???later if malaysia win this cup...the fam says that football in malaysia was improved...lol...

can't even win the tiger cup

Malaysia 4 - Nepal 0
Indra Putra- min 21
Safee Saali- min 29
Safee Saali- min 50
Khyril Muhaimeen - min 54

Match Goal

Check out Safee Saali first goal..

wow!! he is either the Henry of M'sia or he is just plain lucky...

first.. congrats to our team for beating nepal..

What a goal by Safee Salee.. a confidence + skill + LUCK!!.. ehehe

Khyril Muhymeen as calm as he used to.. great goal by him.. has been his admire for some time oledi..

Malaysia have to play far better than the 4-0 score. We have to see broader more...

lol vr true. happened the last time msia won the merdeka cup. after that (in sea games or tiger cup i cant remember) they still dont deliver.

lawan nepal bole ler. jd champion tiger cup dlu la br bole bangga sikit

bro.. asyik nak mengutuk je tak guna gak.. memang la kite dah lama tak puas hati dgn dorang ni.. tapi time menang, bagi la moral support sikit.. dah kalah kene, menang pon kene.. aduss.. main la sedikit peranan sebagai rakyat malaysia tu..

aih apsal yg hang terasa? aku duk kutuk fam.. my comment should b looked as a challenge rather than viewed as putting down the team. the only way to proof we are achieving sumthing is winning the tiger cup. am i not rite? aku xde duk kata xmo support team ni n aku rs aku kut plg vocal to support the team. but sometimes a harsh words work wonders to improve ppl. renung2kan!

Safee`s goal just brilliant,i think this guys also can plat sepak takraw as well

play sepak takraw?? confirm.. sure he can..

Rocko.. bukan terasa.. tapi mungkin msg tu sbnrnya bukan kat org cam kau.. khusus utk org yang hanya pandai menghentam.. singgah2 thread hentam2 just nak banyak kan post.. sigh

Moral support? Please lah. Knowing our bunch that'll only make them complacent. It was after all mighty Nepal, who have an enormous population of about 30,000 people! Look at the teams that are competing. Is there a cause to criticise Malaysian football? Of course! Don't just look to this one game, look at the state of our football as a whole. The Merdeka tournament used to have some prestige with European sides like Hamburg and Austria Vienna taking part. Now teams are sending their under-23 sides.

What a joke. not even one team from FIFA top 100

this is the best way to improve our ranking!!!

ADD-ON: Did u guys watched the highlights from ESPN ? Darn the field sure sucks to max . with puddles of water everywhere.

maybe they should pull in:

Indonesia
Singapore
Thailand
New Zealand

..and a few more gulf countries in

if they put indonesia, thailand and singapore. what the difference between Merdeka cup and AFF Suzuki Cup?

This is the first step in improving our football ranking. We are now at 160, who are we demanding to compete against top 100 team?

Improving the ranking to 120 at least then only talk about it..First step

Just swap those three countries with Afghan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

If we just improve our rankings by beating lower tier countries it doesn't meant anything. Picture this, we are ranked 110th, but still struggle to beat the likes of Singapore, Thailand and even Vietnam. Ranking means nothing if we still can't improve our standard.

the nepal keeper damn noob wei..he did nuts for all the goals..tengok bola melayang saja..

ha a..mcm takde tgn je keeper

gi stadium smlm,pdg mcm sawah padi.

btw,great goal by safee..
bit unlucky not to get his hat-trik

Indo, Singapore n Thailand cannot come becoz the tournament clashes with their local league schedule.

I think the team is OK la. I'm sure their trying hard to improve their game after all the criticisms. Well.. Let see how they'll fair against Sierra Leone (a better team i hope) tomorrow.

surely boost their confident after thrashing nepal yesterday...

But will it last long..??

it's depressing to think that we need teams like nepal, afghanistan to beat in order to lift up the msian morale. but the reality is that our rankings have already sunk vr low that the word embarassment is not enuff to describe it. it is vital that we try to stop it from getting it even lower. like johnjenin said, it is baby steps. take our ranking higher step by step. by that way we cud attract more better opponents every year. we have to stop living in the past and look forward. indeed the situation surrounding the football scene aint helpful (and fam is certainly not the only problem or the solution), but i'm still behind the team anyways. hopefully i get to see a better malaysian team in my life

Day two matches were held yesterday

Group B Result and table position

This is my exact thought. Rankings matter not and it's just a number. What is more important is that we play better sides to improve ourselves. If the players get demoralised after a defeat and play even worse, then they aren't fit to put on their nations colours. Get a bunch of players with the right mentality in, not sons of important people who are too pampered to stick with strict diets and tough training sessions.

baby step surely d best way. we cant just go and compete with higher ranks teams to 'improve' i think this is a good way to start over.

boleh makan ka mlm ni?

The thing is we're on such a steep downward spiral that we're losing to smaller sides. It isn't as though we've been playing friendlies against sides we used to pummel in the past like South Korea, Iran or Japan who have since qualified for multiple World Cups. We've moved down a rung and are playing sides like Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand and struggle to beat them. We have also managed to lose to the likes of Laos and Philippines. The point I'm trying to make it that as teams like Thailand improve, we'll be going further down the FIFA World Ranking order to look for opponents which over the years has not improved our team. If this progresses, we will soon be running out of teams to play. Currently we are ranked 160 in the world just ahead of countries like St. Lucia, Turks and Calcos Islands, Guinea-Bisau, Seychelles and Belize, some who have a total population of Alor Setar! St.Kitts and Nevis who are ranked 4 places above us have a population of just over 40,000 which is 10 times less than the total population of Seremban!

I don't know about you mate but these are alarming statistics to me. It is in my opinion that in order to improve, we need to keep playing quality opposition. We've already been taking baby steps, backwards in fact by playing opposition lower and lower down the World Ranking order with no positive results. We'll beat the likes of Nepal and grow complacent. If the players are not mentally strong enough to lose against teams like China and come back, then they aren't fit to put on the national jersey.

Back to the topic, the Merdeka tournament has lost it's appeal and quality teams aren't even remotely interested in participating. The condition of the pitch leaves a lot to be desired and which team would want to risk injury to their players for peanuts? Everything is in shambles and instead of being in denial, we should perhaps suck up some of our pride and look to other countries for assistance or guidance.

berminat untuk menang satu tiket grandstand untuk game malaysia lwn sierra leone malam ini?

sila ke sportsmalaysia.net pada jam 3 petang untuk maklumat lanjut

Let me have a think. Sierre Leone are ranked 133 in the world. Mohammad Kallon (formerly of Inter Milan) plays for them but I doubt he's down in KL since Sierra Leone are fielding their U20 side. Even Mozambique who are ranked 100 in the world have only sent their U23 side for the tournament. Yeah, not exactly enticing.

Oh another note, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that former Selangor and Czech World Cup goalkeeper, Karel Stromsik may return to the country in a coaching capacity. I use to love watching him play for the Red Giants when Malaysian football was still at the very least, in a respectable state.

emm... for me.. the prestigeous pestabola merdeka is on the downfall... it a good way for FAM to give some morale boost for the malaysians before the AFF suzuki cup but sacrificing the prestige is too heavy for me as a malaysian football scene fan..

but anyhow... malaysia have to win this tournament for us fan give back our faith to our national team.

result game pertama hari ini

nepal 2-2 afghanistan

pemain malaysia dan sierra leone sedang warm-up

senarai pemain malaysia vs sierra leone

what the final result in M'sia game???

Malaysia 4-0 Sierra Leone
Indraputra, Safee Sali, Aidil Zafuan, Zakuan Adha

Teams P W D L F A +/- Pts
- Malaysia 2 2 0 0 8 0 +8 6
- Nepal 2 0 1 1 2 6 -4 1
- Afghanistan 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 1
- Sierra Leone 1 0 0 1 0 4 -4 0

Malaysia leading for teh LULZ

hope for 8 or more againts afghanistan

Congratz malaysia for the win



kualiti padang



in Malaysia we trust!

Lawan afghan lepas ni kalau kalah jugak tak tau la nak cakap apa

kau jangan main2.. karang osama laden yg keluar karang.. haw haw..

win 4-0 again,what a surprise according to Sierra Leone`s rank more higher than us

---

Added on October 18, 2008, 1:10 amkualiti padang is one problem,another problem is quantity fan

This post has been edited by faris21: Oct 18 2008, 01:10 AM

lagi rmai ni dr game nepal.

ok laa.

i guess.. with such a weather.. we cannot expect more.. maybe we can see more supporters in the final.. if we did it. btw, faris21, u got there huh? hehehe

sierra leone is 100th on the list rite? if so, this is consider great performance then..

I think the Sierra Leone team that they sent was under-23... not the senior team. Correct me if I'm wrong! But in any event, it was a good result. Congrats to the boys!

not there,i stay at JB so only watch the goal from youtube

i see.. jb huh.. maybe u can turun kl if our national team make it to the final.. heh

The quality of padang has no much difference from padang sekolah sia

padang sekolah can be far more better lah bro.. such a shame..

move to another stadium please... kamonla xkan nak mng gune stadium camni kut. it maybe an advantage to us, but its a real embarassment if we keep continuing to use this field. xkan semer stadium around klang valley teruk macam tu kut?

SL brought the u-23 team. well at least msia manage to beat that team. congrats..

request to johnjenin, any highlights? thx

Sierra Leone fielded under 21 players

i think that is because the time of the game was played..the nepal game was on the evening right?

Dont know if this is true, but according to mr. wiki, SL is actually playing with their U-20!

SO AGREE BRO!!

honestly my school field is better..no dirt or muds at all even after a very heavy downpour..but of course la still got "ponds"..school field mana ada drain system..

Yes Sierra Leone did field a bunch of kids which is why we didn't get to see Mohammad Kallon. As I have mentioned earlier, most of the teams in the tournament are fielding their youth sides including Mozambique, the highest ranked team in the tournament at no.100 on the FIFA list. They brought their U20 team with them. This is a tournament we should win considering we have so many seasoned full internationals in the squad.

The state of the pitch is abysmal. Here we are trying to raise the quality of football in the country by hosting an international tournament and we don't even bother looking after the surface on which the whole tournament is played on? Doesn't it suggest that the FAM don't even take this tournament seriously? What's going to happen the next time round? The prestige (if there is any left) of the tournament will continue to slide and teams will start sending their school teams next.

yeah field like sawah padi

Talking about using that term loosely...
The thing is that the Pestabola Merdeka as it was known as was one of the most prestigious football tournament in Asia, the fact that it has descend to this is not a good thing at all. I am not sure what is the problem, the players? The administration? Or the foreign football leagues which has dominated TV. The thing is that It is a bit of everything.

I've read that the super league will ban club sides from entering it, even if they have qualify for it through promotion, the reason? The state sides do not wished to be whipped by club sides who are more professional in their set up and receive less fundings. HOw many times have we read that the state sides owe salary to the players? It's almost a yearly thing, at least a couple of state side will make the papers with this. It is saddening that in a country that loves football and proud of our football tradition and great players such as Dollah Salleh, Supermokh, Zainal Abidin Hassan, Lim Teong Kim and others, we have descend to this state.

I think that a total revamp of the league and administration is required, and have a 10 to 15 year plan to develop the game in the country, state sides must learn to find their own sponsors, on getting an income to ensure the survival of the team or even make a profit. If successful sides such as Selangor can do it, doesn't mean sides from smaller state such as Perlis or Kedah can't do it. It takes some planning and bold decision making to make it work. I look forward to the day where we can all trot to the stadium to watch our beloved state side or national playing again, this time, with better quality.

A bit off topic I know, but I would want nothing than see our football improve and go back to the glory days. Then we could probably talking about big teams coming for the Pestabola Merdeka, REAL big teams, not Indonesia & Thailand or Singapore (no offence), but the likes of Japan, Korea or even African nations such as Nigeria or Senegal.

gambar2 game malaysia lwn sierra leone semalam



lebih banyak di sini: Pestabola Merdeka 2008

Hmm a fantastic turnout I see.

Yeah, heard that the mamak stalls around the area is packed with fans who can't get a ticket to the game...

they've changed the venue for the 3rd game against afghanistan to the national stadium in bukit jalil. let's hope for an improvement. at least the quality of the pitch. 1 look at the previous stadium looks similar to the ss3 field where the lyn boys used to play in their previous stint as a football club .

1 thing they shud consider is doing it at 2 stadiums at least. maybe the field aren't supposed to get hammered on (played on daily, twice!) which makes it even worse.

media didn't mention that a team which lost to Malaysia is team U20
just watch the highlight in the TV3 this afternoon,dengan bangganya they said our boys beat team with which the ranking higher than us with big win 4-0
the FAM and the TV3 really want make all of us feel and believe our quality improved

faris21,
tv3 did mentioned that Sierra Leone fielding their Under20. same goes with RTM. Please get your fact correct.

Malaysia 4 - Sierra Leone 0

minat untuk menang dua tiket grandstand untuk perlawanan malaysia vs afghanistan jam 8.45mlm isnin ini di std nasional bukit jalil?

sila ke sportsmalaysia.net selepas jam 12tgh, Ahad 19 oktober 08

I reckon they should allow for free entrance given the lack of fans.

They all also want to cari makan la. Give those guys a break.
Wanna come.. you come. RM10 is not a big deal

You have to give a little to get a little. It's not always about making money upfront, unlike running a new trendy club in town. Interest is waning amongst the public and many like me won't even go if it were free, what more when you are charging?

You want to charge people, ensure that you give them something to see like some quality opposition, not a bunch of kids.

What's the next match on?

the semis for malaysia will be held at? on?
maybe will travel to kl to watch it... anyone wanna go with me? from jhr

ask faris21.. huhu

today,

more details here: http://www.sportsmalaysia.net/2008/10/20/p...ct-08-schedule/

cant join,i in last semester now,really busy this month with final project presentation and final exam

hey.. xm is just around the corner la fren... better do ur revision.. hehe.. and get ur psm ready... all the best rite...

Malaysia won 6-0 again Afghanistan last night and will face Myanmar on semifinal as a group winner.Goal from winger Ashaari Shamsuddin (22 & 64min),Nizaruddin Yusof (42min),Zaquan Adha (45min),Safee Sali (84min) and Hairuddin Omar (87min).Congrate to our boys..

6-0.. quite interesting.. more and more ppl will turun stadium this semis.. myanmar fans could ruin the stadium as well.

Anyone knows where will M'sia vs Myanmar semi final match gonna hold?
if its Shah Alam me and the boys will go again

Well, our boys are high flying..lets see the outcome on Semi's

From the schedule,all semifinal game will be hold at Bkt Jalil Stadium..dunno if they change it.

jadual perlawanan semi-final esok

Jadual semi

minat untuk menang 2 tiket grandstand semi berharga RM20 satu?

sila klik link ini: malaysia vs myanmar competition

omg they thrashed everyone in the group stage . What a miracle ?!?!?!?!
lame i shud say

tak sangka m'sia boleh sebat sierra lone.. not bad.

at least the field at bukit jalil was better than the previous one. vr different

still ok la the KJ stadium. but now a day every evening rain. wanna to go and watch live also susah.. bassah kuyup..

more photos here: Malaysia vs Afghanistan

ha. y sepak takraw? just because he bicycle kick..

Just out of curiosity, how tall are our centrebacks?

i think the tallest is K Nanthakumar in the whole team.

So whos going tonight lol. I know I am.
Will post some pics when I'm back.

man i've got presentation...definitely gonna go for final if they get through tonite

i really miss the surrounding when we won it last year!! the best atmosphere i've ever been in malaysian football match

cmne skunk??
da brape da??

this sierra leone 1st team or youth?

Merdeka Cup semi final :

Vietnam beat Sierra Leon 3-2 on penalty kick after drew 2-2

Malaysia currently lead with 3-0 against Myanmar. Malaysia goals scored by Indra 2, and Safee Sali

---

Added on October 23, 2008, 10:35 pmMalaysia just added another goal through Selangor midfielder, Amirul Hadi Zainal...

This post has been edited by johnjenin: Oct 23 2008, 10:35 PM

Improvement by Malaysia or Myanmmar send youth team?lol

Final score 4-0. Malaysia will meet Vietnam on Saturday.

---

Added on October 23, 2008, 10:47 pmMyanmar sending their senior team. Majority of their players come from the same squad that went to final last year Merdeka Cup.

This post has been edited by johnjenin: Oct 23 2008, 10:47 PM

wow thats improvement then..malaysia have yet to leak a goal and safee sali scored every game lol

Looks certain malaysia to winning route