MALAYSIAN football fans are fired up like never before!
It is not because a high-profile team like Manchester United or Chelsea are in town for an exhibition match with the national team.
It is going to be a genuine show of support by Malaysians for their national team, who play against Indonesia in the first-leg final of the Suzuki Cup Asean Football Federation (AFF) championship at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow.
And there is a strong feeling that Malaysia will inflict damage early on Indonesia in their home leg and seal the tie in front of a sellout 85,000 crowd.
Coach K. Rajagopal’s boys did it in eliminating defending champions Vietnam in the semi-finals. They won the home match 2-0 and held out stoutly for a goalless draw in the return match in Hanoi.
Malaysia will be gunning to give another fiery performance in Bukit Jalil to also avenge a 1-5 defeat by Indonesia in their opening Group A match of the tournament on Dec 1.
Coach Rajagopal sees this as the best chance for Malaysia to win the tournament for the first time since its inception in 1996.
“This is the year for Malaysia. The boys have showed the real Harimau (Tiger) in them throughout the championship and we will go all the way to effectively win the Cup at home.
It is about time to raise the bar of Malaysian football and we will make it happen,” he said yesterday.
Malaysia’s entry into the final was totally unexpected as Rajagopal had said that he was working on a team for the future with the target to be in the final of the 2012 AFF championship.
Rajagopal, who had led the Malaysian Under-23 boys to win the gold medal at the 2009 Laos SEA Games after a lapse of 20 years, had his back against the wall going into this tournament with at least 10 key players down with injuries.
But it was sheer guts and fighting spirit from the young boys that had brought the team this far. After the rout by Indonesia, the youngest team in the competition held three-times winners Thailand (0-0) and thrashed Laos 5-1 to advance to the semi-finals.
Goalkeeper Kahirul Fahmi Che Mat is only 21 and he is making his international debut with the senior national team. Last month, he featured in the Guangzhou Asian Games Under-23 competition and Malaysia qualify for the second round for the first time in the series after 32 years.
Besides Khairul, the baby of the team is stocky Harimau Muda defender Mohd Fadhli Shas, who is only 19. He has combined well with his national Under-21 team-mate, Mohd Muslim Ahmad, in the heart of the defence and they are flanked by rightback Mohd Sabree Mat Abu and leftback Mohd Asraruddin Putra Omar.
Rajagopal had his entire first-team defenders wiped out due to injuries. They are Norhafiz Zamani Misbah, Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak, Nasriq Baharom and Azmi Muslim.
Rajagopal had one word to describe the young ones – “special”. He took off his hat to the boys for believing in themselves and to stand in magnificently for the seniors when the chips were down.
“We have nothing to lose with these bunch of boys. They can only get better from now,” he said.
Rajagopal is now set to create history with the national team as first-time winners of the biennial AFF tournament. In fact, Malaysia will be playing in the final for only the second time since the defeat by Thailand in the inaugural tournament in Singapore 14 years ago.
There has never been such a frenzy and show of support for Malaysian football, which has been in the doldrums for a long, long time.
Three years ago, there was a public outcry following Malaysia’s disastrous performance in the Asian Cup. Malaysia, one of the four-co-hosts, were humiliated by China (1-5), Uzbekistan (0-5) and Iran (0-2).
Finally, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, Malaysian football will be on fire with the sparks provided in the 2009 Laos SEA Games and in the strong runs in the AFF tournament. Malaysia won the SEA Games gold medal for the first time in 20 years in Vientiane last December. Now for the Suzuki Cup.
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