I must confess that I’m not a local football fan; I don’t know most of 11 except for Rajagopal, the coach, the most familiar face with macho mustache. But when Malaysia were up against Indonesia in the second leg of AFF final, I promptly switched on TV just like any other local football fans; it is very rare appearance of our football team in a final at regional stage. Of course, we don’t talk about Asia, Olympics or World Cup as we’re far of, very far indeed.
When Safee, the talented striker struck in the first goal, I knew the moment that we have waited for so long has finally come close to materialize. We have a 3-goal advantage from the first leg and Indonesia now needed 5 goals to overturn the deficit. I must take my hat off that our young players could play without fear at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium and for that fighting spirit, they’re worthy champions.
From the solid defense and counter attacks, it was not surprising that our players struck the first goal. Indonesian players were subsequently mounting pressure on us by fast attacks and yielded in 2 goals but perhaps they had wasted many opportunities in the first half, the 2-goal was not good enough to stop Malaysia to become the first ever football champion at South East Asia stage.
I have supported Arsenal for years even though they’re without a trophy for the past 5 years, mainly because of the team’s philosophy of developing young talents unlike its rival Chelsea, burning Abramovich’s billions to build a super-stars team. Of course money could do almost everything in this world but certainly not building characters that will keep us remember for a long long time.
Kudos to Rajagopal, for his foresightedness and capability to develop a winning team derived from a bunch of young and talented players. This is something that our sport is so lacking for long and hopefully the AFF Cup will be our turning point towards building a sport nation, cultivating more champions in the international stage.
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