Tough Companies...

...for Young Tigers.

Malaysia has been drawn into Group C of the 2012 London Olympics Asian Final Qualifying Round together with favourite Japan and two West Asian nations, Bahrain and Syria. It will be a stern test for Ong Kim Swee's boys who were placed in the fourth pot during the draw.


The Young Tigers will open their campaign away to Japan on 21-09 before playing their next two matches at home against the West Asians in November. Syria will be the first to come for their fixture on 23-11 and four days later Malaysia have Bahrain as their guest on 27-11.

Their next two matches will take place in February next year with Malaysia going to Bahrain on 05-02 before entertaining the Japanese on 22-02. The final group match will take place on 14-03 with the Malaysians having to travel to Syria.

Of course being in the final rounds is already a good achievement for Malaysia, which has consistently failed to progress past the first round of any continental competitions for a number of years now.

But in the current feel good situation in Malaysia in regards of their national football team, one could be forgiven for thinking that the Young Tigers have the capability to spring a few upsets against the more fancied teams in their group.

Kim Swee's plans for these matches are to minimise errors that his players could make as they could prove fatal against the stronger teams in their group. Furthermore they would stand an outside chance of qualifying if the Malaysians could take full advantage of their home matches.

The Draw:
GROUP A - Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman
GROUP B - Australia, Uzbekistan, Iraq, UAE
GROUP C - Japan, Bahrain, Syria, Malaysia


...

Roar...

...of the Young Tigers!

Malaysia confirmed their place in the final of Asia Olympics Qualifying Round with eleven other nations after a battling display against Lebanon at the Stadium Nasional tonight. After a goal-less first leg at the Sports City Stadium in Beirut, the Malaysian players knew they have to win in order to progress in the competition.

The more favoured Lebanese could be feeling confident of pulling the result they needed to advance but that confidence must have plummeted after nine minutes when Malaysia went ahead through a sweet strike by Mohamad Irfan Fazail after the visitors failed to clear their line.

His finish from just outside the box was akin to the ones that we Malaysians used to see during English Premier League matches, highlighting the fact we have good technical players in our league. What they need is to keep producing the kind of good technique on a consistent basis.

Back to the match, the Lebanese players seemed to be shell-shocked and Ong Kim Swee's boys took the opportunity to press for the security of a second goal. However they have to survive a scare when Khairul Fahmi Che Mat's crossbar was rattled by a strike by Abdallah Taleb.

The second goal did arrive and the way it arrived certainly should make more Malaysians believe in this Malaysian team. A string of passes were exchanged before Gary Steven threaded the ball into the box, having spotted Wan Zack Haikal making a run from the flank.

(Image was taken from Dunia Sukan.com)

The midfielder shrugged off the attention from a Lebanon player and managed to squeeze the ball past goalkeeper, Mohamad Dakramanji. The National Stadium erupted with joy as Malaysians celebrated the goal that could bring them to the stage they have not visited for a long, long time.

It certainly proved crucial. Steven, who received a yellow card in the first minute of the match, saw the same card again flashed to him by Japanese referee, Toma Maasaki six minutes into the second half, resulting in an early bath and giving Lebanon a man advantage.

The dismissal gave them the impetus to push forward in search of goals and with the Malaysian defence kept hacking the ball away at every opportunity, meant the Lebanese would keep coming back.

Finally the constant pressure paid off in the 61st minute when a deep cross from the right was headed towards goal by Mahmoud Kojok. The loose ball then was headed in by an alert Chadie Atie despite the desperate attempts by the Malaysian players to keep it out.

The goal meant Malaysia's hope of advancing depended on whether they would concede again in the last half an hour of the match as a draw tonight meant the Arabs would go through on away goals rule.

Perhaps the best way of not letting your opponents score is to deprive them of the ball in the first place. However, as the Malaysian players continued to punt the ball into Lebanon's half almost continuously saw they have to constantly deal with attacks by the visitors.

Credit to them, they managed to hustle the Lebanon players and prevented them from making much use of the ball, restricting them to making long distance attempts which were dealt easily by Khairul Fahmi.

Only towards the end did the Malaysian players beginning to hold on to the ball and keeping it in the Lebanon half of the pitch. The three minutes stoppage time seemed like an eternity but when Maasaki San blew his whistle one final time tonight it resulted in joyous celebrations not just at Bukit Jalil but throughout Malaysia.

Congratulations Young Tigers!


Other results:
India vs Qatar: 1-1 (Qatar won 4-2 on aggregate)
Iran vs Iraq: 0-2 (Iraq won 2-1 on aggregate)
Palestine vs Bahrain: 1-2 (2-2 on aggregate, Bahrain won on away goals rule)
Yemen vs Australia: 0-4 (Australia won 7-0 on aggregate)
Kuwait vs Japan: 2-1 (Japan won 4-3 on aggregate)
Turkmenistan vs Syria: 0-4 (Syria won 6-2 on aggregate)
UAE vs DPR Korea: 1-1 (UAE won 2-1 on aggregate)
Jordan vs Korea Republic: 1-1 (Korea won 4-2 on aggregate)
Hong Kong vs Uzbekistan: 0-2 (Uzbekistan won 3-0 on aggregate)
Vietnam vs Saudi Arabia: 1-4 (Saudi Arabia won 6-1 on aggregate)
Oman vs China: 3-1 (Oman won 4-1 on aggregate)


...

Falling Further...

...Down.

Perak found themselves dropping further down the 2011 Malaysian Super League charts after Kedah won their tie against Harimau Muda 'A' at the Shah Alam Stadium last night. The win for the Canaries came courtesy of an own goal by Harimau Muda defender, Mohamad Amer Saidin who sliced his clearance into his own net despite not being pressured by any Kedah player.

Kedah are now in fourth place while Perak dropped to fifth.




...

Great Comeback...

...in kT!

It was not a welcome habit but it seemed to be entrenched in the way Terengganu play at the moment. Conceding a silly goal early in the match before making a comeback to take something out of the encounters with their opponents.

The match against Harimau Muda 'A' was the third time they conceded early in the match, this time a mis-kick by a Terengganu defender presented the chance for Syahrul Azwari Ibrahim to put the Young Tigers ahead just after seven minutes of play.

But one good thing from going behind in previous matches is the mental strength of the Turtles seemed to grow as they did not panic and played to their strength. Irfan Bakti's boys seemed to create a number of good scoring chances but were unable to convert these opportunities into goals.

Ten minutes after going behind Terengganu forced a corner when Harimau Muda skipper Mohamad Muslim blocked a shot from Ashaari Shamsudin. However, the Terengganu topscorer would not be denied his goal, connecting with Ismail Faruqi's corner with a powerful header that hit the bar before rebounding behind the goal line.

Terengganu continued their dominance after the equaliser. Ismail himself and Joseph Kalang saw their shots saved by Harimau Muda goalkeeper, Izham Tarmizi Roslan. The young custodian however could not do anything to prevent Abdul Hadi Yahya's shot from going past him in the 36th minute.

The goal was a result from a quick counter attack after the home defence managed to clear a corner by Harimau Muda. Ismail Faruqi made a long pass which found Abdul Hadi who managed to evade challenges from two Harimau Muda players before slotting the ball home.

Izham denied Hadi another goal with a wonderful save two minutes before the interval but he was beaten again when Abdul Manaf Mamat was put through and beat him with a delicate lob. Fortunately for the Harimau Muda goalkeeper, the goal was not counted as Manaf was flagged offside by the referee assistant.

Terengganu continued to press after the interval as they went out looking for the security of a third goal. Ashaari's hardwork and persistence paid off in the 64th minute when he won the ball in a midfield challenge.

He played the ball to Hadi who laid the ball into Ismail's path, giving him a clear run to Harimau Muda's goal. The midfielder kept his cool and finished the move with a side-foot which nestled gently in the Young Tigers' net.

Three-one to the Turtles and the margin could have been bigger had their players converted the chances that came their way after the third goal was scored. In the end it was enough for Terengganu to keep pace with the leaders.

PBDKT T-Team shock 2-0 win in Shah Alam against Selangor saw the Red Giants being pegged back by Kelantan who themselves were beaten by T-Team on Tuesday. Both teams were level on twenty points but the Stags have a better goal difference.

Perak missed the opportunity to climb to the top of the pile when they lost their unbeaten record this season, going down 2-1 to a Sabah team, struggling at the lower part of the Super League table. The defeat saw them dropped to third, just a point in front of Terengganu.

Goals from Norfarhan Mohamad and Indra Putra Mahyudin were enough to see off a poor Selangor side, which missed the chance to go in front in the first half when T-Team experienced goalkeeper, Syamsuri Mustafa saved a penalty by Razman Roslan.

Thirteen minutes into the second half Norfarhan rose unchallenged inside the box to head home a Zairo Anuar's free-kick. Part of the blame should also be borned by Selangor goalkeeper, Mohamad Iqbal who should have done better.

Then six minutes from time, Indra Putra latched onto a quick pass from Zairo and with consummate ease evaded challenges from the home defenders before finding the back of the net with a low shot.

The win was the third in succession for Yunus Alif's charges and they maintained their seventh place in the Super League charts. It should finally ease the pressure on the Head Coach who struggled to find the right mix for his team before the break for the FA Cup competition and the international friendly.

...