Good Bye Suzuki Cup

It is the end of the road for the Malayan Tigers tonight in Bangkok after their 2-0 defeat against the Thais saw them lost the tie 3-1 on aggregate.

Fingers will be pointing at the Korean referee, Lee Min Hu's poor performance as the reason why the Malaysians lost their regional title. However, I would like to differ from the majority and blame it on the Malaysian Head Coach, Rajagopal.

With just a few weeks going into the competition he was still experimenting with his line-ups. The results of the friendlies that his team played during that period were far from encouraging. Defeats in Vietnam and Thailand were tolerable but being held by the Bangladeshis certainly pushing the fans patience to the brink.

Then came the 3-0 demolition by southern rivals Singapore in the first match.

The Malaysian line-up for the match was the one expected to be littered with players known to Rajagobal. The feeling was it is a catastrophe waiting to happen. By the end of the ninety minutes every Malaysian knew it was one.

Rajagobal knew he had to change for the next two matches to ensure qualification from the group. He did change, with four players making their first start for the tournament. It brought the required result, a 4-1 win over Laos even though the result looked beyond their reach with 23 minutes remaining.

Then came the crunch match against Indonesia and Malaysia performed almost flawlessly to win 2-0 and booked their place in the last four. Suddenly we were playing like champions and looked good to defend the cup.

Rajagobal then sprung a surprise to the nation with a 4-5-1 formation at home against Thailand for the first leg. Back to the fold was his prized player, Amar Rohidan. In the end it was a 1-1 stalemate and an away goal conceded though nobody in their right mind would blame Farizal Marlias for the Thais' equalizer.

A more positive and bold approach to the match could have brought a healthy lead for the second leg in Bangkok. Unfortunately, Rajagobal looked timid in his approach and with the Thais only needing a goalless draw to qualify, it was a mountain to climb for the holders.

Somehow, it was kind of expected that Amar Rohidan would be in the line-up thus giving me the feeling that it is "good-bye" Suzuki Cup.

In reality, the host did not have to do a lot as Malaysia did not offer much in attack. The poor decision by the referee in flashing the second yellow card to Fadli Shas certainly made the Malaysians' job even harder.

Thailand made sure that The Tigers went home with their tails between their legs when Teerasil Dangda capitalised on the mistake by Amar (ironic) to race through on goal before calmly slotting the ball past Farizal on the hour mark.

Five minutes later, it was all over for The Tigers when Farizal could not hold on to the stinging free-kick by Jakkapan Pornsai and Theerathon Bunmathan was the first to arrive to the ball to tuck it in into the goal.

Rajagopal blamed the exit on the dismissal of Fadli Shas by the referee but in reality he should be blaming himself for not being brave enough to take the fight to the Thais in the first place.


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Newspaper Cup Test for Young Tigers

The Young Tigers will take part in the Youth Newspaper Cup 2012 Tournament, an U-21 international tournament featuring the host Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore in Group A while Ong Kim Swee's boys will take on the likes of Laos and Sydney FC in Group B.

The Young Tigers are expected to make the last four at least and a win over Laos in the opening match on Saturday will pave their way to that stage. Sydney FC will take on the Laotians on Monday before taking on the Malaysia on Wednesday.

The semi-finals are scheduled to be played on Friday while the final and 3rd/4th place play-off matches are set on Sunday.

Good luck, Young Tigers!


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Hope for The Turtles

Despite their internal problems, Terengganu are still in contention for a place in the quarter-finals of the 2012 Malaysia Cup competition. A win for them over the Armed Forces will see them collecting seven points, the same as The Soldiers.

A win for Kedah over Kelantan in Alor Setar will see all teams in this so called 'group of death' amassing the same amount of points going into the final match on 14 September.


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Tough Group for The Turtles

The draw for the 2012 Malaysia Cup competition was held this evening and there were a few gasps by the end of it, especially when Super League champions, Kelantan and Premier League champions, The Malaysian Armed Forces were grouped together in Group B.

To make it even more interesting, last season's runners-up, Terengganu were also drawn into the same group together with their bogey team, Kedah who found themselves relegated to the Premier League after losing the play-off final against Pahang recently.

The Turtles will open their campaign with a home fixture against Kelantan on 22 August, just three days after Aidil-Fitri. The East-Coast derby will promise to be a heated affair, especially with the match being the first one of the campaign.

The Stags are unbeaten against Terengganu this season, will be seen as having the upper hand over their neighbour after dumping them out of the AFC Cup in a hard fought 3-2 victory in Kota Bharu. The latest meeting between the two was the 2-2 draw at the end of the league campaign.

Then The Turtles will be on the road for the next two matches as they visit the Premier League champions, The Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) in the Klang Valley on 25 August before travelling to the north to play their bogey team, Kedah in Alor Setar on 28 August.

Then it will be the reverse fixture with the final match against Kelantan in Kota Bharu on 14 September could be a potential decider on who will progress to the knock-out stage.

Another Terengganu team, PBDKT T-Team were drawn into Group D with 32 time winners, Selangor together with Sarawak and Pahang as companies. T-Team will play their first match at the newly refurbished Darul Makmur Stadium against Pahang.

Then they will play their next two fixtures at home against Sarawak and Selangor before Yunus Alif's men travel to Shah Alam and Kuching to play the reverse fixture before concluding their group programme at home against Pahang in Kuala Terengganu.

The rest of the draw saw Group A having a southern flavour to it with Super League runners-up Lions XII were drawn with two Johor teams. Johor football fans will have their first competitive derby with Johor FC will play against the state team, Johor in the second and fifth fixture of the group.

Another team in the group is the draw specialist, PKNS FC.

Group C saw defending champions, Negeri Sembilan will see Perak and two club sides, Felda United and Sime Darby FC as obstacles in their quest to defend their title this season.


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Tough Group for Malaysia

Malaysia ability to defend the Suzuki Cup will be severely tested when they are grouped together with the opponent they defeated to win the last edition, Indonesia and the 'enemy down south', Singapore in Group B of the 2012 edition of the tournament.

The runners-up of the Suzuki Cup qualifying tournament will complete the group.

Group A will see host Thailand competing with the likes of Vietnam and the Phillippines with the qualifying tournament winner completing the group.

The qualifying tournament will be held in October in Myamnar with the host competing with the likes of Brunie, Cambodia, Laos and Timor Leste competing for the two spots in the final round.


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Terengganu Struggle

Terengganu struggled to overcome bottom team Kuala Lumpur but in the end did just enough to collect all three points as they continue seeking a place in next season AFC Cup tournament.

The 2-1 win came courtesy of Francis Doe's brace, one in each half. Terengganu midfielder Abdul Shukur Jusoh was guilty of squandering two good chances and was a face relieved when celebrating his team-mate's strikes.

Kuala Lumpur equalised through their foreign player, Okine Emmanuel who scored from the penalty spot after Terengganu defender, Muhaimin Omar had fouled a Kuala Lumpur player inside the box.

Faiz Subri notched his fourth goal in as many matches to help his team PBDKT T-Team to a 1-0 win over Sarawak at the State Stadium in Kuching. It was the club side first win in six matches to bring much relief to Head Coach, Yunus Alif.

Kelantan took a big step in retaining their Super League title with a hard fought 3-2 away win over Negeri Sembilan. However they have to come from a goal down when Firdaus Azizul gave the home side the lead just before the first quarter of an hour of the match gone.

Former Terengganu player, Azlan Ismail restored parity when he reacted quickly to a loose ball after Indra Putra Mahyuddin shot from a Norfarhan Muhammad's corner was blocked on the goal-line.

Indra also had a hand in the goal to give his team the lead in the 63rd minute when his pass released Mohammad Ghaddar who managed to stay onside. The Lebanese maintained his cool to beat Farizal Marlias though the goalkeeper could have done a bit better.

Then six minutes later the favour was returned when Ghaddar spotted Indra making his run into the box and played and early ball for the former Malaysian player to tap in from close range.

Shukor Adan then reduced the deficit with four minutes remaining when he managed to steal into the box unmarked to head home a S.Kunanlan corner past Khairul Fahmi Che Mat and his defenders.

However, Kelantan held on till the end and now only needed just one more win from three matches to ensure the Super League title will remain in Kota Bharu for another season.

Meanwhile Selangor and Perak found their ambition to play in the AFC Cup next season coming under serious threat when both of them failed to get a win in their respective matches yesterday.

Bosko Balaban's free-kick gave Selangor the lead in the 63rd minute. The Red Giants then were just two minutes away from taking all three points when a quick attack saw Abdulfatah Safi breaking down on the right.

Despite the attention from a Selangor defender he managed to send a low cross into the box where Kyril Muhymeen was arriving to tap the ball past the helpless Norazlan Razali.

Perak meanwhile failed to use their home advantage when they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of PKNS FC. Johor FC meanwhile furthered themselves from the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over Sabah, a result which saw the Sabahawks dropping back into the bottom two.


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Double Despair

Both Terengganu teams lost their Super League matches last night with Felda United inflicted PBDKT T-Team's tenth defeat of the season with a 1-0 win in Kuala Terengganu while Kedah continued to be Terengganu bogey team as they came from behind to win 2-1 in Alor Setar.

Yong Kwong Yong scored the only goal as The Settlers' registered only their second away win of the season.

Up north of the peninsular, defender Muslim Ahmad scored for the second consecutive match with another glancing header, this time from a corner. The third minute goal seemed to wake the home side up and they began dominating the match.

Khyril Muhymeen equalised after twenty minutes when he finished a good cross by Baddrol Bakhtiar from the left after the Terengganu defenders were fooled by a dummy sold another Kedah attacker.

Both teams created chances as they looked for the winner. Ashaari Shamsuddin's volley in the 61st minute went just inches wide of the Kedah goal.

Then The Canaries found their winner in the 69th minute when they broke quickly and as the Terengganu players tried to regroup, Baddrol unleashed a powerful volley that left Sharmiza Yusoff rooted to his spot.

The win ensured Kedah kept up their chance of survival from the relegation zone as their closest rival Sabah also collected three more points thanks to their 4-2 over Kuala Lumpur in Melaka.

Sarawak inflicted Johor FC first defeat in four matches when they won 3-1 at The State Stadium in Kuching.  A twelve minute spell in the second half saw The Crocs leading by three goal with Yosri Dermaraju, Guy Bwelye and Zamri Morshidi putting their names on the score-sheet.

Haris Safwan Kamal replied for The Bees as they found themselves being hauled back towards the relegation zone.

At the MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya, the home side PKNS FC also staged a successful comeback when two goals by Mohamad Fazli saw them collecting all three points at the expense of Negeri Sembilan who had gone ahead through a strike by Ahmad Shakir.

In a match played on Friday, Kelantan went to the top of the Super League table after they recorded a 1-0 victory over Selangor in a match that had it's heated moments between the two sets of players.

Lebanese striker, Mohamed Ghaddar scored the only goal of the match. Unfortunately despite being a hero to the Kelantan team he is also the maître provocateur as his actions led to two Selangor players losing their head.