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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Tigers...

...Roar!

Having just woke up from his deep slumber after an eventful journey to Bukit Jalil, mad redo1 still feel the elation of seeing with his own eyes the 3-0 victory Malaysia carved over neighbour Indonesia in the first leg of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup Final.

After having to rely on the Indonesians for a place in the semi-finals, Malaysia have gone from strength to strength with a near efficient performance against Vietnam in the first leg before putting on a workmanlike display in Hanoi to qualify to the final with a 2-0 aggregate win to face, ironically the Indonesians.

mad redo1 with his fellow GanuSoccer.Net forum members boarded the bus at the Sultan Ismail Nasirudin Shah Stadium with other fans who would lend their voices to support The Tigers in their quest for their first senior title since the 1989 SEA Games gold medal. They came close in the inaugural AFF Cup in 1996 but lost to the Thais in the final in Singapore.

The journey was uneventful for most part except during a stretch on the East Coast Highway when the bus started to sway left and right in an extra-ordinary way when passing a boxed lorry. The swaying was strong enough to wake mad redo1 from his sleep and immediately his mind flashed all recent tragedies involving buses.

Fortunately it stopped a while later. When the bus made a pit stop at the Temerloh Rest Area mad redo1 found that he was not alone feeling the sway. However no reason was given why it happened as the driver was tight lipped about the incident.

The party decided to head to Putrajaya rather than spend their time in the city centre. After refreshing ourselves at the Putra Mosque and filling our tummy at a hawker centre in the 8th Precinct, we headed to the Alamanda Putrajaya to spend our time before heading to the National Sports Complex in Bukit Jalil.

There many members opted to bowl some pins after the initial plan of watching a movie at the Golden Screen Cinema had to be shelved due to time constraint. However mad redo1 prefer to rest his eyes with a few winks at the table and despite the noise he managed to get his much needed shuteye.

Lunch was a wok's affair at the food court before proceeding to the new Masjid Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin or more famously known as the Steel Mosque to freshen up and pray. Then it was straight to Bukit Jalil, and despite being a short distance only from Putrajaya, the road leading there had begun to jam with vehicles going to the same destination.

We embarked at a nearby spot and marched to the stadium when the Indonesians have begun marching to their gates while hoisting a giant Indonesian flag on top of their heads. mad redo1 did not think it is possible to do the same thing in Jakarta.

While waiting for another member who would bring the tickets we converged at a spot and there both set of fans mingled cheerfully with clearly no tension in the air, again something mad redo1 think is not possible in Jakarta.

It was quite sometime before the match was scheduled to begin but the fans already begun to sing and cheering led by the 'Ultras' who now have brought supporting the national team a new level which never seen before in Malaysia.

When the match started mad redo1 was seated at the lower tier near to the corner flag. It was a good location but an uncivilised Malaysian spoiled the viewing of many by sitting on the wall. Perhaps it was a reflection of the match in the first half which left mad redo1 a bit disappointed.

During the interval mad redo1 tried to join his GSN mates at the middle tier but found his route was blocked by a sea of bodies. Through these bodies he tried to watch the match and then he caught the sight of Norshahrul Idlan getting the better of the Indonesian left-back before delivering the ball to the middle where Safee Sali applied the finishing touch.

Cue pandemonium at Bukit Jalil as Malaysians there and throughout the country celebrated the first strike. While celebrating this goal mad redo1 took the opportunity to wade through and found himself a good spot to watch the next goal which was scored by Terengganu very own Ashaari Shamsudin after the initial shot by Norshahrul was deflected into his path by an Indonesian defender.

It was like being in a dream and when Safee's powerful header hit the back of the net for the third goal mad redo1 wished the dream would go on and on and on. He wished for another goal but in the end 3-0 was as good as it got and for many Malaysians it is certainly the best way to get over the 5-1 humiliation suffered in the opening match.

Despite a bit of stress on the way home, the journey was full with joy and the three goals scored and the clean sheet by the defence put many Malaysians in a confident mood for the return leg at the Gelora Bung Karno stadium on Wednesday.

All around cheers for you Malayan Tigers!

Thank you to those who snapped mad redo1's mug during this joyful journey

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Bukit Jalil...

...Here we Come!

The title has been reserved for quite a long while for the mad redo1's trip to the National Stadium to watch his beloved Terengganu playing in a cup final. Unfortunately it has been 'so near, yet so far' cases with the Turtles over the last few seasons. The last time was way back in 2004 for the FA Cup final when Terengganu lost to Perak in extra-time.

Since then his hopes to support his local team there has been dashed every season.

This time he is not going to wait anymore and if everything goes according to plan he will be among thousands of fans at Bukit Jalil tomorrow night but this time he would not be supporting his heroes in white and black.

Instead mad redo1 will lend his voice to the cause of the Tigers who are facing the Indonesians in their quest for the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup trophy. Instead of the usual white and black it will be yellow and black this time around despite Malaysia have opted to play in the blue strip.

It will be a magnificent turnaround if we manage to land our first regional trophy at senior level since the SEA Games triumph in 1989 come 29 December. Having lost 5-1 against the same opposition in the opening match at the intimidating Gelora Bung Karno Stadium we will start as the underdogs for tomorrow clash.

What Malaysians are expecting of the players donning the national colours tomorrow is to give their all to the cause that will definitely lift the spirits of the whole nation and give Malaysian football further boost in their attempt to climb up the FIFA World Ranking.

It is vital to keep a clean sheet again tomorrow as we did against Vietnam in the last four. It is much better that we eliminated the defending champions rather than facing the supposedly minnow Phillippines which the Indonesians could only score once in each of their semi-final encounter.

From his point of view, mad redo1 feels coach Rajagobal will deploy a counter-attacking strategy which worked well against the Indonesians when we managed to take the lead before defensive frailties unraveled all the good work. We definitely will not be seeing buses again in front of the goal as goals are needed to ensure a good chance when the team travel to Jakarta.

Hopefully our forwards will be at their sharpest to make the most of the opportunities that will come their way, which should be rare given the defensive record of the Indonesians during the tournament. At the same time every player must maintain their discipline in order to keep the Indonesians at bay.

It will be the first time mad redo1 taking a bus trip with fellow fans and it is his first time too supporting Malaysia at close quarters as all this while it has been supporting from afar, perhaps more due to distance rather than non-patriotic feeling because mad redo1 is as patriotic as any Malaysian out there.

COME ON TIGERS!


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Living...

...with Limitations

Malaysia qualified for the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup final after holding defending champions Vietnam to a scoreless draw at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi, our first final since 1996. mad redo1 sat his bums again at T-Cafe with his GanuSoccer.Net GSN mates to watch the match.

Photo was taken from www.affsuzukicup.com

As the match went on it was obvious that Malaysia Coach Rajagopal Krishnasamy had planned to park buses in front of his team's goal with the intention to defend the two goal lead from the first leg at all cost. In front of Muslim Ahmad and his line of defenders was another layer comprised of midfielders Amar Rohidan and Mohamad Safiq Rahim with flankers Kunanlan Subramaniam and Amirul Hadi Zainal deployed more as defenders rather than as attackers.

The approach drew much criticisms from many Malaysia supporters at the cafe. For every clearance made by Malaysian players it would be accompanied by howl of disappointment at seeing the ball coming back as Vietnam continued attacking relentlessly.

Photo was taken from www.affsuzukicup.com

Perhaps Rajagopal believed that his options were limited thus decided to deploy a tactic usually seen in the English Premier League when teams such as Wigan Athletics or Sunderland paying a visit to Arsenal or Manchester United.

It was a rather dangerous tactic which could go either way but fortunately for the Malaysians the home side failed to make the most of the ball which seemed to be glued to their feet throughout the match. Even when they managed to beat a Malaysian player there would be another covering behind him thus limiting them to taking shots from afar or trying to win free-kicks by simulating fouls.

The tactic backfired for Vietnam when Pham Thanh Luong was booked for simulating a foul as he ran into the box and with Kunanlan was about to tackle him. However the Malaysian player held his foot back but at the time Thanh Luong was already on his way down.

The incident unfolded right in front of referee Kim Sang-woo who had no hesitation in flashing the yellow card to the culprit. It was his second of the night thus resulting in a teary walk back to the dressing room.

Khairul Fahmi was not really tested with no significant save required from the Kelantan custodian as Vietnam failed to hit the target with most of their shots. The ones that were on target did not really trouble the goalkeeper.

Malaysia had their chances with Shahrul Idlan Talaha going close with a long range shot in the first half but it curled on the wrong side of the post. The introduction of 2010 Super League Topscorer, Ashaari Shamsudin injected more zest into the attack and was unlucky not to silence the home crowd when his low shot just crept outside the near post after cutting inside from the flanks.

There were chances too for skipper Mohamad Safiq Rahim, Amri Yahyah and two goal hero from the first leg Safee Sali but these Selangor players just could not convert the openings that came their way. For many Malaysian approach was a bit Machavellian but the same set of fans seemed to feel the joy at seeing the nation qualify for their first senior final since 1996.

Now, it will be either the Indonesians or the Pinoys on Boxing Day at Bukit Jalil. Will mad redo1 be there to support the Tigers? Watch this space.



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A Nation's...

...Joy

After ninety plus minutes of sitting his bums at T-Cafe near the Giant Hypermarket mad redo1 finally went home a happy Malaysian. The reason? Malaysia just defeated defending champions Vietnam 2-0 in the first leg of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup Championship semi-finals.

Photo taken from www.affsuzukicup.com

Two goals from Safee Salee in the second half ensured a comfortable lead for the second leg clash in Hanoi on Saturday. The most important outcome from the match was the clean sheet kept by the Malaysian defence, led by Mohamad Muslim Ahmad which managed to keep the visitors attack at bay and made the goalkeeper's job a lot easier.

K Rajagobal's men should expect a hostile and intimidating environment when they line-up at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi for the second leg. However, if they just ignore the environment and resist any provocation to throw off their game by the Vietnamese then they just need to play for a scoreless draw but that does not mean we have to adopt a defensive strategy.

One of the key objectives for the second leg is not to concede an early goal as this will motivate the home side to attack more and at the same time will plant seeds of doubts in the mind of Malaysian players. The longer the match go without a goal it will put more pressure on the home team and the crowd will get on their back, which will do us a huge favour.

Fortunately last night Vietnam goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong was in a generous mood by letting Safee's bullet header slip through his grasp in the 61st minute thus giving the home side the breakthrough. The Malaysians did not look back and went further ahead nine minutes from time when Safee pounced on a loose ball after Tan Truong could only parry a shot from Mohamad Safiq Rahim.

For many Malaysians it is certainly a victory to savour and certainly a lift for Malaysian football, especially after the opening day defeat to Indonesia. If Malaysia manage to get a positive result in Hanoi then a repeat of the meeting with the Indonesians will be on the cards as they are expected to get past the Phillippines in the second semi-final.

If Malaysia qualify for the final, the question where mad redo1 will seat his bums will be determined just before Christmas.

Come on Tigers!



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A Nation's...

...Hope

After a bad start to their AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 campaign, many Malaysians felt that it is going to be the same old story for the Malaysian national team, albeit with a new man at the helm. However, coach K Rajagobal rallied his men and after holding the much fancied Thailand to a scoreless draw they thrashed Laos 5-1 to sneaked into the last four after the result of the match between host Indonesia and the Thais went our way.

Thus tonight Malaysia will face defending champions Vietnam at the Nasional Stadium in the first leg of their semi-final clash with the second leg scheduled to take place on Saturday in Hanoi on Saturday.

Going into the match Malaysia players should not put themselves under too much pressure as the Vietnamese are the favourites, being the defending champions of the competition.

Rajagobal's men have gone from strength to strength in the competition and for many Malaysians who will fill the Nasional Stadium's seats a fighting display by the players will win their hearts regardless of the result.

Recent results against the Vietnamese have not been encouraging but all those are in the past and tonight it is going to be a new ballgame altogether. Thus the confidence that the squad has right now should be used o the fullest and with the backing of a good crowd at the Nasional Stadium, Malaysia should get a good result for their second leg encounter on Saturday.

As a Ganuan, mad redo1 would like to see Sharbinee Allawee back between the posts for Malaysia as his performance against Indonesia was top class despite conceding five goals. Rajagobal should have stood by the custodian instead of giving the spot to Khairul Fahmi whose performance against Thailand and Laos were decent but nothing much to shout about.

But irrespective of which player going to start against Vietnam tonight the support of mad redo1 and almost all Malaysians will be with the Tigers in the first quest to be in the final for the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1996 in Singapore when they lost to Thailand.

Good luck Tigers!


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Champions...

...Ainslie!

British Triple Olympic gold medalist Ben Ainslie and his TeamOrigin team-mates completed a remarkable 'double' by winning the 2010 Monsoon Cup ahead of Aussie Torvar Mirsky of Mirsky Racing Team in a close final.

The 3-2 win enabled Ainslie to add the closing regatta tournament trophy to the World Match Racing Tour honours that he won at midday after closest challenger Mathieu Richard of the French Match Racing Team failed to finish in the top five and with the Brit qualifying for the final.

The day before, in the absence of defending champions Adam Minoprio of ETNZ/Blackmatch Racing Team who failed to qualify for the last eight, Ainslie had chosen to race against Richard in the make or break quarter-final race. The strategy paid off as he defeated the Frenchman 3-1.

It was the last Match Racing campaign for Ainslie and his TeamOrigin crew, at least for now as they will set their sights to the 2012 Olympics events which will take place in their own backyards.



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School...

...Rules!

Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawar (SSBP) emerged as Champions of the National U-16 Women Hockey Tournament 2010 after defeating Kuala Lumpur in the final at the MBKT Hockey Stadium in Kuala Terengganu.

After a goalless first half SSBP struck twice in quick succession through Norshahida Sakira Kirman and Liyana Aqilah Mohamad Sepawi towards the end of the match against the City Girls to record a 2-0 win. This left them together with host Terengganu as the only unbeaten teams in the tournament.

Earlier The Girl Turtles defeated Melaka 4-2 to clinch third place. The win showed the mental strength of the players after suffering a heartbreaking penalty-stroke defeat to Kuala Lumpur yesterday evening.

The individual awards were evenly spread with the tournament Top-scorer was won by SSBP's Hanis Nadiah Onn while the award for the Best Goalkeeper was won by Terengganu Noor Rul Azwani Zuraiden. Kuala Lumpur Surizan Awang Noh was named as the Player of the Tournament award.


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Heartbreaks...

...for Lady Turtles

It was heartbreak hotel for the Terengganu girls this evening when they lost to Kuala Lumpur in the semi-final of the National U-16 Women Hockey Tournament 2010 at the MBKT Hockey Stadium in Kuala Terengganu. Both teams failed to find the net during regulation time and the extra-time also failed to break the stalemate.

In the end the match had to be settled through the lottery of penalty strokes. In the failing light due to the stadium's non-functional floodlights, the City Girls held their nerve to edge the host 3-2. Kuala Lumpur went through to meet the winner of the first semi-final between Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawar (SSBP) and Melaka.

The sports school did not have much difficulties in disposing the Group A champions with a one sided score of 4-1. Melaka now will play Terengganu tomorrow morning to determine third and fourth place while the final between SSBP and Kuala Lumpur will take place in the afternoon.


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Tigers...

...Mauled!

It was not the scoreline every Malaysian would have imagine prior to the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 clash between bitter rivals Indonesia and Malaysia. Many would feel it is a hard task to defeat the Indonesians especially in front of their partisan home crowd thus a draw or a low scoring defeat would be acceptable.

Unfortunately the worst thing could happen, happened. At the end of the ninety minutes played the scoreline read; INDONESIA 5 MALAYSIA 1.

It was certainly a victory every Indonesian dreamed about and for every Malaysian, their worst nightmare.

However, both coaches agreed the scoreline did not reflect the quality of the match with Malaysia certainly made life tough for the home side. Perhaps the actual difference between the teams was there were too many mistakes committed by the Malaysians.

Malaysia took the lead in the 19th minute when a long ball out of defence found its way to Mohamad Safee Sali who took on two defenders before laying it to Shahrul Idlan Talaha. The striker lifted the ball before unleashing a volley which was powerful enough to beat the Indonesian goalkeeper. A well taken goal.

The equaliser for the home side was stated as an own goal by defender Mohamad Asrarudin but the cross from the right should not have been allowed in the first place. Then another Malaysian player committed the cardinal sin in football when he was caught in possession around the penalty area.

When the ball found its way to Uruguayan born Christian Gonzales, it was a matter of picking out his spot to beat Sharbinee Allawee in the Malaysian goal. The Terengganu goalkeeper performed heroically throughout the match, preventing a number of chances from being turned into goals by the Indonesian forward.

However, he was helpless when his defender went asleep again when Indonesia substitute Muhamad Ridwan tried to play a one-two at the edge of the Malaysian penalty box. Defender Mohamad Fadli Shas tried to block the ball but the it fell into the path of Ridwan who continued his run with no Malaysian player alert enough to stick with him which made his task in beating Sharbinee a lot easier.

If the equaliser could be deemed as an unfortunate incident for Asrarudin, conceding the fourth goal was of his own making. A high ball which should have been bread and butter for the defender was mis-controlled by Asrarudin. The loose ball was pounced by Arif Suyono who had the strength to shrug off the challenges by the Malaysian defence before slotting the ball past Sharbinee, who was clearly disappointed with his defence.

Then deep into stoppage time when many Malaysians were thinking nothing worse could happen, the Indonesian broke through again. Again it was on the right and the cross by Oktovianus Maniani was turned in by Irfan Bachdim to give the scoreline a huge gloss for his side while a gloom outlook for the Malaysians who now will take on perennial favourite Thailand in their next match which could determine who will be in the last four of the competition.

It was certainly not a night to remember for Malaysians but it is certainly not the end of the fight either.

C'MON TIGERS!



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