The Malaysia Experiment - The Mundane Friendlies

"It's better to be absolutely ridiculous
than absolutely boring." - Marilyn Monroe

I'm still living in the high from our U23s boys winning the Asian Games Football Tournament. I must say, it was pretty unbelievable. Too bad it was time to get back to work, with the senior squad. We'll be having 2 friendlies in the month of October; first at Uzbekistan (41st) and after that, a trip to China (68th).

To be honest, I have no idea why on earth did I schedule these friendlies (or maybe it was my assistant - Tan Cheong Hoe that made the arrangements). Our Under 19s and Under 23s announced their squads before I submitted mine, so I decided to let the players good enough for my senior squad to stay there and play their respective friendlies. This also allows me to explore other options. Hopefully, some debutants would come good.

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We had an afternoon 3pm kick-off but thank God it wasn't too hot in Tashkent. I'm giving debuts to my front 4 - Benjamin Ibrahim (18 years old), Syafiq Hossain (17 years old), Muhd Hafizuddin Shaari (17 years old), and Azwan Abdul Wahid (17 years old). Our boys had a pretty commendable performance in the first half and kept it at 0-0 going into halftime. They had a lot of shots on target but at least we had equal possession.

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I sent the boys out for the second half hoping to gain a respectable draw. We defended like mad but our tired legs gave way in the last 10 minutes. Eldar Yo'ldashev broke free and sent in a pass for Po'lat Sarimsoqov to make a simple tap in. We lost 0-1 but I'm proud of the boys for defending well.

Next up is China, on my birthday. ;)

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I had no natural DL so I had to slot in Lucas Tari there. This time I put in my strongest attacking line available, welcoming back Lee Jinxiang and the experienced Brendan Gan. Some of the players that had fussy club managers (only allowing 45 minutes of playing time) were dropped. I was shocked when we arrived at the stadium in Dongguan, not too far from Guangzhou. I wasn't expecting a lot in attendance but the fans came in droves and filled the stadium close to capacity. I feel like I'm throwing the boys to the wolves but it'll be good training for them.

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Well, it was a terrible match, for us in particular. Not a single player managed a rating of 7 and above! :/ What's worse is that Amirul Azahan Aznan suffered an injury to his kneecap as well. Let's hope Joseph Jacob, his club coach at Negeri Sembilan, isn't too upset about it, considering he's not his first option at right-back. Let's hope next year, the boys from Harimau Malaya can present me a better birthday gift.

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At least our Under 23s (2-1 against Uzbekistan Under 23s and 2-0 against China Under 23s) and Under 19s (5-1 against Uzbekistan Under 19s and 3-1 against India Under 19s) won all their matches.

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This time, I'll be calling the players from Under 23s and Under 19s for the upcoming South East Asian Football Championship at Thailand. We've been grouped alongside Philippines (81st), Vietnam (89th), Singapore (144th), and Brunei (175th). I guess we're situated right smack in the middle after the latest rankings, dropping 19 places after the losses, to 106th place. I hope to emulate the 2010 team that won the tournament.

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Now I'm off to take a short break, before clocking in to pick the 22 men squad for South East Asian Football Championship.

If you enjoyed this entry, do check out my previous posts
from where it all started, right up to now.