MALAYSIAN FOOTBALL: Go back to the schools

By : T.S., Klang

THE sacking of B. Sathianathan as the coach of the Malaysian football team is a harsh decision. Given the resources available, even Sir Alex Ferguson would struggle to get results out of the team.

Firstly, who picks the team? Does the board of directors have any knowledge of and experience in football or are they just fans like me? Who is the manager of the team?

The Football Association of Malaysia is not looking at the problem from the right angle.

The roots of Malaysia's football probably lie in the schools. But there are no facilities or proper guidance for young Malaysians interested in playing football. Not only talented players, but everyone interested should be allowed to play. This will create a more competitive atmosphere within the school. This spirit of competition will be duplicated at the district, state and national levels.

A typical school these days has about 20 players in the school decent enough to make the school team. Just imagine if there are 100 who all can play just as well. Even if none of the 100 is good enough for district-level football, the sheer number of aspiring players will make the talented ones work harder to ensure their place in the team, thus making them better players who will inspire better competition from other talented lads in their district.
At present, most of our schools do not bother about sports. Their concern has been on academic pursuits and they have extra co-curricular activities only to satisfy Education Ministry requirements.

Many school teams do not even have coaches and have to train themselves. Many teachers have little idea of what football is about, apart from knowing of David Beckham.

If every teacher were required to have basic training in at least one co-curricular activity or sport, this would help promote football as well as other school activities.

And what was the FAM thinking by imposing a ban on foreign players in the M-league? This has just made the M-league more boring and less competitive. When the foreigners were around, it made locals work harder for a place in the team. Now they have fewer things to worry about. The old quota of foreign players was just fine.

comment:
Malaysian government had build the sport school which is the Bukit Jalil Sport School and Bandar Penawar Sport School for the young athletes to be more consistent with their study and sports that they are taking part in. the malaysian government should build this kind of school more so that the young athlete will not just excel in sports but even in their study. As an example our national pride athletes Dato Nicole Ann David,her success in squash did not prevent her to record impressive and outstanding academic achievement. She scored 8As in the PMR (Penilaian Menengah Rendah) and 9As in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).

What Happen to Malaysian Football?

The Malaysia national football team is the national team of Malaysia and is controlled by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). It has never qualified for the World Cup finals, although the team did qualify to play in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. However, Malaysia did not take part after heeding a United States-led boycott of the Games due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Malaysia, 167th in FIFA rankings, would still be able to make some major changes. FAM should organize an academic talent programmed, start training players as young as five years’ old, set up coach education programmed and review the Malaysian league and football club licensing.

The youth system in Malaysia is growing, football being the favorite sports of Malaysians has helped spur the growth of the youth system. Malaysia are currently coach by local lads Sathianathan. As for the world cup, it has always been the dream of Malaysians to have their national team in the World Cup, although I personally don't see it happening in the near future, because the team still lacks a little in experience, skills, etc. But with the youths coming up, we might have a good shot at maybe the 2010 World Cup. The Malaysian league is quite popular, although it must be said, only the teams that are doing well (on top) receives the best crowds. I guess some fans are not as dedicated as their counterparts all over the globe, whereby they will support their teams through thick and thin. Malaysians however tend to be fickle and support the teams that are doing well at the moment.

So far Malaysian footballers have not done well outside of Malaysia, and this however is slowly changing as new players like Titus James Palani, Akmal Rizal are making their mark overseas. Titus is now in France, while Akmal returned from a stint in Germany. Currently there are two young Malaysian in EPL club academy, Azwan Hasahar at Fulham and Mohd Naim Ahmad at Birmingham City. Azwan is a winner of Soccastar reality TV show and Mohd Naim brought to Birmingham by Steve Bruce himself when they do trial here at Malaysia.

Malaysian footballers don't earn as much as their counterparts over the globe I reckon. Their earnings vary from RM 2000 to RM 20,000 (500 to 5000 USD) per month. Some of the top players in Malaysia League are Ahmad Sharul Azhar, Akmal Rizal, Keita Mandjou, Chipeta, Khalid Jamlus and national captain, Shukor Adan.

There are several factors that people believe contributed to recent lack of quality in Malaysian football. One of the main talking point is back in late 90's there are so many players were sacked because of their involvement in bribery. And sadly they are all good players. I think that is the turning point that causes Malaysia Football so boring to watch.

Some also said Malaysian should not squarely blame the footballers. Malaysian instead must pull up a rope over the officials’ neck and say that they are the guilty ones. It’s funny how our Malaysian politicians often tend to come up with so call “quick but expensive” solutions without proper study made on the causes of failures.

What ever the cause, Malaysian will always love football. Every party must take responsibility to improve the situation. All the best to Malaysian football.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

comment:

Malaysian player got the quality to become a world well known player if they show a consistent playing skill and stamina during every games. To be a good football player is not just depending on how the coach train his player,it needs the player to work hard to become a professional player. Everyone must took responsibilities to bring back the glory of the Malaysian football team. More friendly tournament should be held outside or inside the country so that our player could gain experience and learn the way the professional football player play football.

Presence Of Super League Players In Sukma Irks Kelantan Coach

By Jaiarajo Letchumanan

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 29 (Bernama) -- Kelantan coach Azman Yusoff was left fuming after his team's 3-0 crushing by Selangor - not because of his teams big defeat but with the lack of restrictions on teams fielding Super League or Premier League players.

"The Sukma (Malaysia Games) should be a place to expose our young talent and make them better players. Selangor brought their Super League stars.

We next play Kedah, another team that is virtually their Super League side. "We are not playing on a level field. Kelantan are made up of young, up and coming talent who need exposure. That is our aim," Azman told reporters.

However, his counterpart from Selangor, Dollah Salleh was quick to refute, claiming that the presence of Super League and Premier League players in the Sukma will provide a perfect opportunity to guide the young players in the team.

"I am pleased with the way my seniors in the team are guiding the young talent. It is good for football," said Dollah.

Thursday is a rest day for the football competition in the Games and most of the teams spent the day assessing their performances and mending "fences", especially teams that lost their first matches.

However, though Kedah carved out a 3-2 win over Sabah, coach Mohamad Ramli was not a happy man and did not mince his words when he said, another 10 minutes we would have lost the match as the favourites struggled to contain Sabah's late charge in a Group B match at the Gong Badak Sports Complex here Wednesday.

The players simply lost focus after taking a 3-0 lead at halftime. They took things easy with the three goal cushion. Such things are very dangerous in football," said Mohamad.

If the match had gone for another 10 minutes, we would have lost. I have drilled this into my players. I had warned the team that we cannot underestimate any opponent. My boys will have to be focused in the match against Kelantan to make the quarter-finals."

And it was also a close call for defending champions Terengganu who scored the winner deep into injury time for a 3-2 win over Perak in a Group A match played at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium.

Terengganu coach Khalid Mohd Dahan was the first to admit that despite the full points against Perak, it was a match that could have gone either way after Perak wiped off his teams 2-0 lead at halftime.

Our defensive midfielders did not do their job well. We allowed Perak to get into their rhythm, said Khalid.

I am not too pleased with what we dished out in the second half. Frankly, I was worried when Perak drew level. Luckily we managed to get the winner in injury time. It would have been disastrous if we had lost our opening match."

-- BERNAMA

comment:

Overconfident during a game will make the player to do many mistake. Objective in a game is to win and gain control of the game from the beginning until the end of the game. That is the way for a professional team play. Playing football is not just to kick the ball,but the way the player control the ball and maintain his stamina during the match. Malaysian league is the way for the young player to show their skill. New player must be train so there will be more experience player to be subtitute for the next generation.

Future Malaysian Football Team

Malaysian Football team had been gone through many difficulties from the glory to the falling of our national team performance this day. We must gain back our glory like the old days where all the player played for their country not like some of these day player who played just for popularity and money. Like the old days, the player such as late Mokhtar Dahari,our country football legend, had brought Malaysia's name around the world. He is a very dedicated player. Malaysian player should follow his spirit to make Malaysian National Football team to be known by other country like the old days. The football bribery scandal in Malaysia had once again broke out,the ACA hauled up 15 Sarawak players for questioning while one former Sarawak and national player, aged 39, has been remanded on suspicion of being a middleman for a syndicate involved in match-fixing since last week. This should not happened because it will make negative impression by the Malaysian football supporter and lack of support will effect the performance of the Malaysian player in any of friendly match or any competition. As an exampe, the friendly match between our national team versus Manchester United on 18 July 2009. Some of the Manchester United fan and supporter, who is absolutely a Malaysian, tease our national player when the some mistake. Amri Yahya who scored two goal that night should receive a credit for his credibility.Every one would thought that Manchester United would give the young Malaysian side a thumping as they did in 2001 (6 – 0). However, the Malaysian young tigers showed that they can, indeed, hold up against a team as big as Manchester United. Football is not about kicking or heading the ball into the opposition goal post but it is the matter of discipline and respect against each other. To be the best player in our team we need a full commitment towards our target which is to bring back the glory of our national football team,Tiger squad,like the old days. The players must not take for granted all the government had done. They must have the attitude when attending the training session so that they could train themselves how to control and manipulate the football field. They must learn from the other giant national football team such as England or Brazil. To make football as a career, a player must have a unique skill and also strong stamina. The player must have a consistent fitness level so they could play well in a match. With all this criteria, football can be their career like the David Beckham, Christiano Ronaldo or Kaka' whose leg worth of a million dollar.
Therefore FAM must organized more friendly match against other country to train our national player and let them to have more experience. The collaboration from other parties needed to get our national team into the higher level competition again. Fans is the key for the player to play their best in any games,therefore as a Malaysian, we must not looking downwards against our national team. We must give our full support so that they can play their best to never let us down. FAM should find ways to bring back the football supporters to the stadium. Malaysian football fans are not interested to watch the Malaysian football team playing live at the stadium because they did not enjoy watch the Malaysian footballers play. Therefore,the players must perform and entertain according to the fans expectations. By showing their skills,spirit and focus when playing in a match,i think the fans would be enjoy and will be more interested to watch the match live in the stadium. Besides that, the stadium management should charge an affordable price for the seats in the stadium. Malaysian media must give full coverage on the Malaysian football team match as an update for Malaysian football fans. By doing this, Malaysian football team can get publicity and to have more fans.Bribery scandal must be stop among the Malaysian player because this will effect our country's sports reputation. Everybody is blaming on each other on the Malaysian football team potential except themselves. We must not compare our national team with the other country because they can play better than our national team because of their hardwork and their spirit of their country. As the conclusion, Malaysian football team could regain their glory like the old days 1970s and 1980s if every body play their role in raising our football team reputation.

Football Association Malaysia(FAM) history

Malaysian team had been organized by the FAM since before 1963 . The function of this body is to organize Malaysian Football Team and to organize major soccer tournament within the country. Football arrived in Malaya with the British. The locals soon picked up the game, and before long it was the country's leading sport. Towards the end of the nineenth century, football was one of the central pillars of most sports clubs in Malaya. But it was not structured. Even when the Selangor Amateur Football League took shape in 1905 – which ensured proper administration and organisation – the competition was confined only to clubs in the Kuala Lumpur area. In 1921, a national tournament featuring all the states that made up Malaya was started. The competition, known as the Malaya Cup (later renamed the Malaysia Cup in 1963), has been continuously since then, except during the war years.In 1926 the Selangor Amateur Football League was established, and in 1936 the Football Association of Selangor was formed. While the Selangor FA was moving towards organised football, and inspiring other states in Malaya to follow suit, the battleship HMS Malaya visited the country in 1920. In 1926, the Football Association of Perak , the Football Association of Selangor, the Football Association of Negeri Sembilan , the Football Association of Malacca and the Singapore Amateur Football Association came together to form the Malayan Football Association (MFA), in order to field a Malayan team against an Australian side that visited Singapore that year.In 1933, the MFA was revived to form the Football Association of Malaya (FAM). Initially, the FAM was based in Singapore. It was chiefly responsible for the running of the Malaya Cup competition. The annual tournament played along inter-state lines was a huge success. The first president of FAM was Sir Andrew Caldecott, followed by M.B. Shelley, Dr. J.S. Webster, S.D. Scott, R. Williamson and Adrian Clark, who served up until 1940 before Europe went on a full-scale war with Germany . In 1940, control of the FAM moved from Singapore to Malaya, with A.R. Singham becoming the first Asian secretary in 1941.The FAM's first president after the war was J. King, to be followed by H. Byson, and then Dr. C Rawson, who served for two years before vacating for the first ever non-British personality to take over the helm. In 1951, Tunku Abdul Rahman became the FAM president. It was under Abdul Rahman that football entered in Malaysia entered its next phase, with the FAM taking a much bigger role than just being the backbone in the organisation of the Malaysia Cup.The FAM was inducted as one of 14 founding members of the Asian Football Confideration(AFC) in 1954, before becoming a full-fledged member of Football International Federation Association(FIFA) two years later. After Malaysia gain its independence,Tunku Abdul Rahman who loves football very much build the Merdeka Stadium and in 1957 it became hallowed ground for all Malaysians when it was the venue chosen to announce Malaysia's independence from Britain. It also signalled the birth of the Merdeka Tournament(Pestabola Merdeka), that was to all intents and purposes the centrepiece of the independence celebrations. Following the change in name to the Football Association of Malaysia in the early 1960s, Tunku Abdul Rahman continued to play a big role in the development of the game through various youth competitions. Following his departure in 1974, the reins of the FAM was taken over by Malaysia's second Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak , who served for just one year. The post was then filled by Tan Sri Datuk Seri Setia Raja Hamzah Haji Abu Samah in 1976, who was the Minister for Trade and Industry at the time.Between 1976 and 1984, various football activities were introduced under Tan Sri Datuk Seri Raja Hamzah, and Malaysian football reached a new height in the international arena following his appointment as the AFC president.The FAM entered a new era of modernization and professionalism when His Royal Highness the Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah , took over. His Royal Highness was integral in the growth of football in the new era with the introduction of the semi-pro league in 1989 before the game went fully professional several years later. Among the high points in Malaysian football under His Royal Highness was the successful hosting of the 1977 FIFA World Youth Championship, as well as the organisation of the Premier League, which has been called the Malaysian Super League since 2004.

Malaysian Football History

I published this post to let the viewers to get the knowledge of Malaysian football history which known as the 'Tigers'. Before Malaysia gain its independence from the British, Malaysian football team is known as Malaya National Football Team. After Malaya establish in 16 September 1963 which change the name of our country from Malaya to Malaysia until today the tiger squad had change its name to Malaysia National Football Team. Malaysian squad get its nickname the 'Tigers' as the tiger is the national symbol of Malaysia.
Malaysian football team is controlled by the Football Association of Malaysia or also known as FAM. This association had been organised Malaysian football team since before 1963(Malaya National Team). The Malaysian team is very well known among the Asian country because of its dedicated and agressive player in early 1950s and 1960s. The well known player in that era was Abdul Ghani Minhat(nicknamed "Raja Bola" or "King of the Ball"), Arthur Koh, G. Govindaraju, Robert Choe, Edwin Dutton and Stanley Gabriel. Malaysian team continue its glory in 1970s and 1980s where in this era,the most feared player by other football team although in Asia or in Europe, Mokhtar Dahari. Mokhtar Dahari was the backbone of the Malaysian Team in every tournament. Besides him,the other best player was Namat Abdullah, Shaharudin Abdullah, Wong Fook Chuan, N. Thanabalan, Zulkifli Norbit and lead by Abdullah Nordin. In 1972, Malaysia qualified to enter the Olympic in Munich after beating other country such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Philippines. In 1974, Malaysian team won a broze medal in the Asian Games after beating North Korea 2-1. The glory continue when Malaysia qualified to enter the Asian Football Cup(AFC) in 1976 and 1980. Malaysian team continue producing best player such as Zainal Abiddin Hassan, Dollah Salleh, Serbegeth Singh and Lim Teong Kim. However, the glory fell like a house of cards in 1994 as Malaysian football was embroiled in one of the biggest bribery scandals in the country. Many star players like Matlan Marjan and Azizol Abu Haniffah were involved the corruption scandal that destroyed the credibility of Malaysian football. High-profile players who survived, such as Azman Adnan and Khairul Azman Mohamed continued to inspire cult followings, but the game had been badly hit. In 2000s, Malaysia still producing quality player such as Muhamad Khalid Jamlus, Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli and Indra Putra Mahayuddin but still failed to generate a mainstream interest in national football.The decline of the Malaysian National Team comes in tandem with the decline of its domestic leagues. Many Malaysian fans point to the bribery scandal of 1994 as the catalyst, but the popularity of subscription TV has also led Malaysia's large footballing viewership away from live domestic matches to pre-recorded high-profile European games. With the dearth of mainstream interest and starvation of funds, Malaysian football today is miles away from its glorious days of the 1970s and 1980s.