Glory, Glory...

...Malayan Tigers!

mad redo1 stepped on the gas as the kick-off time drew nearer. The photo session for the Terengganu 2011 President Cup squad took longer than expected. By the time he set foot at T-Cafe, the place was packed to the brim.

Luckily as he was looking for his GSN mates mad redo1 heard his name being shouted from the middle of the crowd. It was Arif Akar Umbi, a fellow photographer who already reserved a seat (not really sure it was originally for mad redo1 though).

As he sat his bum on the chair and set his view to the large screen it was obvious this is not going to be just an ordinary night of watching football. It was a sea of yellow sprinkled by dots of blue and almost everybody had a Jalur Gemilang in their hands.

With a healthy 3-0 lead from the first leg, Rajagobal's boys could just sit back and invite the Indonesians to come at them. However, unlike the second leg match against Vietnam in the semi-final there was no buses parked in front of the goal, instead on many occasions Malaysia took the match to the home side.

The home side needed a break annd it duly came in the 18th minute when the Australian referee Peter Green awarded what mad redo1 considered a soft penalty when a shot by an Indonesian player hit Sabree Abu's hand inside the box. It was a case of ball going to the hand rather than the opposite.

Perhaps Mr Green lacked the balls to say 'No' as the pressure from the throng of home supporters who were baying for Malaysian blood during the days leading up to the final finally paid dividends.

Indonesian captain Firman Utina stepped up to take the responsibility of giving millions of his countrymen a glimmer of hope that they would be able to overturn the deficit. Unfortunately his execution was poor making it very easy for Khairul Fahmi to save it.

Ashaari Shamsudin who scored the vital second goal in the first leg went close again when he got the better of an Indonesian defender to buy himself a bit of space but Marcus Harison managed to palm it away.

But it was the Terengganu forward's vision nine minutes into the second half that effectively killed the tie. After gaining possession inside his own half, Ashaari spotted striker Safee Sali's run. With a pass that was inch perfect, he released the striker who did not have to break his stride to unleashed a shot that beat Marcus at his near post.

Pandemonium broke loose at T-Cafe as almost everybody there celebrated in a scene that perhaps has not been seen in Terengganu since the 2001 Malaysia Cup final triumph. A four nil lead and an away goal meaning the Indonesians have to repeat their 5-1 opening day victory over the Tigers.

From being a Kilimanjaro suddenly it has changed into an Everest.

The rest of the match was a mere formality despite the equaliser by Mohamad Nasuha after Khairul Fahmi could only parry a stiff shot by Bambang Pamungkas. Malaysians were already in celebratory mood even though Indonesia scored the winner of the match two minutes from time when Malaysia defender Mohamad Muslim Ahmad headed past his own goalkeeper in trying to block Mohamad Ridwan's shot.

Malaysia won the tie on a 4-2 aggregate thus ending a fourteen year wait to get their hands on the trophy.

In a joyous celebration at T-Cafe mad redo1 and other Malaysians cheered the team as they went up the podium to receive their winners' medal. It was a night to remember for many Malaysians and one mad redo1 hopes of repeating over and over again in the future.

Note: All images are taken from the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup website.

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