The Malaysia Experiment - Cuti-cuti Malaysia

"Penang is not just the island." - A True Penangite

It was pretty cool of Tan Cheng Hoe to arrange a friendly match up north. I would think that it would be good fellowship over great food when we go on a food hunt; probably after matchday, just in case anyone of us has a weak stomach. :p

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Lebanon (125th) is playing a similar formation as Turkmenistan's (89th) in our last outing a few days ago. I hope we can build upon that win and send the boys back with their spirits high.

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Muhd Nabil Shariff (ST) had an amazing match in the last match, scoring a brace in just 45 minutes; but I opted to give Muhd Ikhram Hamir his debut. It's a friendly after all, with nothing at stake. He instantly justified my decision by scoring within 17 seconds from kick off! It's a new record for fastest goal scored in a match! Brendan Gan received the ball in his own half and dribbled it towards goal. He was finally tackled from behind by Mahmoud Santina (MC) but the ball fell to Hamir. He then took a shot near the penalty spot and slotted it into the left bottom corner. We are carrying our good form from the last match! :)

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In just a few minutes, Ali Taktouk (MR) whipped in a cross from the right. There was no way Raymond Fattal (ST) could get to the end of is as my defenders got it covered. Boy, was I ever so wrong. He jumped up and sent in a volley! Muhd Jibril Sairul Fauzi, on his debut for Harimau Malaya, conceded within the first 4 minutes. :/

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Nothing much happened for the rest of the half. We managed to keep possession but rarely threatened their goal. I guess with only around 3,000 people in attendance played a part in demotivating the boys.

The second half was really just a formality as everyone looks so disinterested. It's worth noting that Mohd Faizal Azeman (AMC) did put up a decent performance (7.0) with 3 key passes and 2 chances created, he won himself the man of the match award.

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After this match, I learned my lesson. I need to play against good opponents and perhaps use the opportunity to travel abroad as well. I quickly scheduled for South Korea (34th) and Japan (46th), the finalists for Asian Nations Cup earlier this year.

Meanwhile, our Under 23s qualified from Group H in the Under 23 Asian Nations Cup Qualifying with a superb goal difference of +13! This means they'll be heading to China in January 2020. We fell at the semi-final hurdle in the previous edition, losing out to eventual champions - China Under 23s. We also lost to our bitter rivals, Indonesia Under 23s, in the third-place playoff.

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Hopefully, we can make amends and go one further next year. There might be new faces on the team as well as we're a month away from July when the regens appear. I'm really looking forward to that! :)

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Last but not least, the groups for World Cup Asian Qualifying Section for World Cup 2022 has been drawn! We've been placed in Group 4, alongside our noisy neighbors - Singapore (146th), Lebanon - whom we just had a friendly with, Macau and Iraq (89th) - whom most people would presume favorites to top this group. Only winners qualify for the second round so we need to perform well against all teams. Though we have qualified for the Olympics twice (1972 & 1980), we have never qualified for the World Cup. Would World Cup 2022 be a first in Malaysia's history?

Now if you pardon me, I'm off to go eat that famous Siam Road char koay teow. The master, uncle Tan is back to fried more koay teow! :)

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