The Malaysia Experiment - Asian Nations Cup

"I eat football, I sleep football, I breathe football.
I am not mad, I am just passionate" - Thierry Henry

I've been at the helm of managing Harimau Malaya for slightly more than 2 years. Football Association of Malaysia has paid me about RM1.35M in this period. I'd like to think that my employment is value for money as I have recently delivered a trophy. We've played 24 games so far (14W, 6D, 4L) and I've won 58% of them; most importantly the ones that mattered. Deep down I know all good things must come to an end, but I'll still try my very best to keep this good run going.

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In the upcoming Asian Nations Cup, we have been drawn in Group F, along with Iran (58th), Oman (91st), and our final opponent in the recent South East Asian Football Championship - Thailand (134th). Our ranking has been boosted to 89th. Iran would be favorites to advance from this group while we will be fighting with Oman for the other remaining spot that qualifies for the second round. Thailand would pose a threat as they'll be hungry for revenge after that particular 5-1 bashing and 7-3 overall win.

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It is the time of the year where individual player awards are given out to players who performed well throughout the year. Last year, Abhishek Pannirselvam (DC) won the Asian Young Footballer of the Year award with a total of 187 voting points. This year Lee Jinxiang did one better and won it with 198 voting points. He had an average rating of 6.96 over 9 appearances, contributing 2 goals and 2 assists to our team.

It is also at the beginning of the year whereby we appoint our team captains for our national teams. Last year I appointed Mohd Safiq Rahim as captain but I rarely called him up due to better players available for selection. This year, I appointed Matthew Davies (23 years old), even though he's not one of the team's star performers, but he's still my first choice right back. Pannirselvam (19 years old) will take up the duties as vice-captain. So far the reaction from the squad and public has been good.

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My 25-man preliminary squad has a huge chunk of Johor DT players. It's an example of how the rich get richer as they recently bought Armuhum Gurusamy Govandar from Terengganu II for RM110k. They also called up Gonzalo Gnanalingam from their feeder club - Johor DT II for free! After the final cut, I still had 10 out of 22 players from Johor DT. :/

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So this is it. Iran the favorite. We're in the hot climate of United Arab Emirates. I'm glad our players are accustomed to this weather. My back five and attacking trio picks itself. As for my midfield, I decided to give Hafiz Azman a run in an attacking role while Gnanalingam sits in front of the defense.

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The first half was nerve-wracking for me. They attacked us right from the get-go and bombarded our goal. Thank God Saddam El-Hafedz Shahri was on top of his game and saved four shots! I encouraged the boys and told them to keep it up. A draw is as good as a win for us.

I noticed that Azman wasn't being effective so I swapped in Gurusamy Govandar and played him in the center of the pitch. In the 76th minute, we had a free kick at the edge of the box. It seems pretty harmless but as Hussain passed it back to Gnanalingam, that's when the magic began to happen. The midfield trio of Gnanalingam, Ismail and Govandar played some 'triangle' passing and Govandar complete the beautiful play with an unstoppable shot. I couldn't believe that we were 1-0 up! Against Iran! The favorites in the group! This was completely unexpected. Against the run of play. There were 20 minutes left on the clock and I was going to get the boys to 'park the bus'!

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In the end, we persevered to record a famous victory! Oman won their match against Thailand. Our next match against them will pretty much determine who tops the group.

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Oman is playing a very interesting formation - 4-1-3-1-1. It looks very narrow. I'll be playing my usual tactics, utilizing my wingers. To be honest, a draw would be a great result for me.

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It couldn't have been anymore dull in the first half. There were no highlights at all! All I did was tweak things a bit and check out the heat map. Oh well, this does play into our hands.

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Our match ended 0-0. Zero shots on target for our side. We did have a good chance create by Irudianathan (AMR) but Abidin (ST) blew it.

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In the other match, Iran beat Thailand 4-0. Thailand will be facing us in the last match. Let's make sure they remain rock bottom, with no points to show for. ;)

I realized that my squad is slightly imbalance, with only Hussain being the only player that can play on the left wing. There are at least four players that can play on the right. I decided to change things up a bit, playing a 4-2-1-2 to keep my wingers fresh. I could do well with an extra right back. I guess I'll just have to learn from this experience, sometimes versatility is better than specialization.

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Another goalless first half. As long as we can avoid defeat, we're through to the second round. Meanwhile, Oman is leading 1-0 against Iran. To be honest, with an eye on the next game, I subbed out Ismail (MC) and Gnanalingam (DM) in the 50th minute. In came Benjamin Ibrahim (MR) and Ibrahim Salleh (ST). I played a whacky, out-of-sorts formation, a central midfielder and a right midfielder, an attacking midfielder, and three strikers! The whole team was literally leaning to the right and Thailand really exploited it.

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In just a matter of a few minutes, Prasopchai Chanboon (AMR) ran down the right (which is our exposed left), and sent in a cross for Wattanachai Pisitthabannakorn (ST) to head in. We were down by a goal, but somehow I wasn't too worried. Over in the other game, Farhad Nourollahi (DR) got himself sent off and Iran was down to ten men! A comeback would seem impossible now.

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Back in our match, the boys were passing the ball around and keeping possession. Mohd Shafiq Zarul Nizam passes the ball to Ibrahim, who found the space and time to pick out Salleh up front. He scores and we are level at 1-1.

Now drama was about to happen in the other match. Iran managed to level through Mehdi Taremi (ST), a 53rd-minute substitute that subbed in for another substitute, so he was literally the 3rd choice! If the current result stands, Oman still tops the group on goal difference above us. Then Ashkan Dejagah (MC) got sent off and Iran was down to nine men with 10 minutes to go! Iran gave all they've got and Taremi doubled his tally for Iran to complete the most miraculous comeback!

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In the most unlikely fashion, Iran topped the group as predicted. I wasn't too upset over the draw with Thailand as we still progressed to the second round. Now, all we had to do was to wait for Group E to finish their matches and wait for the draw.

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When the draw was out, I breathed a sigh of relief when I found out that I avoided the powerhouses and will be playing against Hong Kong (China PR) (119th). If we won that, our potential opponent would be manageable as well, Yemen (97th) or the hosts - United Arab Emirates (96th).

I noticed Oman was still in the tournament as well. It seems like I missed a tiny detail.

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Good for them, I suppose. Philippines (92nd) also managed to squeeze through with this rule. It's good to have another representative from ASEAN. They'll be facing Japan (61st) though. As for ourselves, we'll take it one step at a time. We've already met the minimum expectation set by the FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) for us, which is to reach the second round. :)

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

The Malaysia Experiment - Asian Nations Cup | Group F