It’s OK to feel dismal and heart-ached after the painful defeat we were faced last night, but don’t let it frustrate the wish each of us is keen to pursue: getting qualified to play in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 finals.
To be honest, Harimau Malaya - a squad that is being head-coached by the South Korea’s Kim Pan Gon - has shown gratifying improvements since the man took over the mantle.
Before the training camp really started, I personally doubt of his calibre.
I was wondering whether this man could serve a mesmerising football to us, the tail of Malaya Tiger, who have been demanding for nothing but victories till the end.
The last two qualifier matches were, especially the last night’s, to me, entertaining that “world class” was the first word that crossed my mind.
The word that is best to describe the national team’s performance, at least before the publicly-dissatisfied mistake happened.
The reliability of Khuzaimi Piee of Negeri Sembilan FC (NSFC) was proven in the match. The national team have to have such a multitasking defender who can be functional when the time needs him.
Who has ever thought that a central defender could do an overlapping run to back a ball passer before tubing it to the goal-scorer?
No wonder there’s a sumptuous domestic team is ardently eyeing his dependable service.
The fighting spirit of the national team was, undeniably, appreciable.
The common “We could have drawn,” comment from the fans’ mouths was judicious as the team had outperformed (at least before the retaliatory goal happens) the opponent, whose international ranking was above us.
I don’t want to be elaborative on why the national team conceded two easy goals in that important match. The irate netizens have done it so well.
Instead, I just want to express my longing that the match against Bangladesh this Tuesday’s night must be taken as a must-win battle.
We can no longer tolerate any dysfunctional players who contribute nothing but anger to the attending spectators.
The head coach and players have to be minded that every Malaysian football fan has the right to being entertained with a splendid gameplay of the national team.
My thought on NSFC’s Syihan Hazmii being the replacement to Farizal Marlias in the next game may not be corroborated by many, but it’s time for Coach Kim to gauge the young talent he called up to be in the list of best-3 goalkeepers to prove his credibility of safeguarding the goal with his hands.
The all-out dedication and winning characters posed by the players truly earned my standing ovation.
Despite the greatness of the first eleven in the first half, I still believe that Ganu man Faizal Halim, if he was initially named to play, would have done his magical touches that could severely ruin the steadiness of the opponent’s defence.
Whatever it was, we must focus on defeating Bangladesh with uncountable goals. Don’t let the bitter past cloud the future we dream together.
Let bygones be bygones. Winning big in the Tuesday night’s match does need unbent strengths that the team have built.
The national team must be in a formidable togetherness to make the country proud by securing a niche in the AFC Asia Cup finals that will be held next year in China.
To the twelfth players, let’s crowd the stadium with yellows this Tuesday. It’s the fight that our loud and visible support means the world to the Harimau Malaya.
* Amerul Azry Abdul Aziz is an independent writer who now views politics as something that can be researched.
** The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.
