"Don't count your chickens before they hatch." - Idiom
So what has happened in the past month? We broke top 100! We're now at 90th position, almost managed to cut it by half since I first took over the job. Our U19s then participated in Asian Under 19 Championship Qualifying but I personally think that our chances were ruined by our U19 manager - Mohd Nizar Zakaria. I have no idea why he picked a team with only defenders! Seriously planning to sack him at the first chance available.
We won against East Timor, (2-1) drew against current holders - Japan (0-0), but ultimately our neighbors, Singapore (1-1), screwed our chances of advancing.
I've finally managed to call up Kiko Insa as he's finally recovered from his broken lower leg injury 6 months ago. I've also called up a few veterans in the likes of Muhd Shahrom Abdul Kalam (32 years old), Mohd Farizal Harun (31 years old), as well as S. Kunanlan (31 years old). Lucas Tari is the sole player that has yet to represent Harimau Malaya. As you can see from the picture above, I went for a very experimental formation.
We made the friendly against our rivals - Thailand (135th) routine work. 2-1 victors with goals from Gonzalo Gnanalingam (a belter from outside the penalty box) and Luqman Hussain, both breaking their international goal-scoring duck. Not surprisingly, Haji Mohd Yusop got injured again on his first match back for us. :/
Under 23 Asian Nations Cup groups were just drawn and I'm so tempted to take control of the team, but I decided against it and trust my U23s manager that we've hired all the way from Germany - Frank Bernhardt (just noticed that he's on a RM2,500 per week contract).
Here's the top of the table clash between us and Tajikistan (108th)! Much has transpired since we last meet (2-1 victory to us) and let's see how things pan out this time.
Here's how the team lined up. I went for a slightly defensive set up. The first half went by and the score still remains goalless. Both teams only managed 1 shot on target each.
Then in the 78th minute, Konstantin Habibulloev scored a beautiful free kick. He's a centre-back and his free kick attribute is only 7! I guess we were pretty unlucky. We barely threatened their goalkeeper, and with the strikeforce that we have, it's an embarrassment. I'll be taking a 4 months break. I really need to take my mind off.
If you enjoyed this entry, do check out my previous posts
from where it all started, right up to now.
The Malaysia Experiment - The Setup
The Malaysia Experiment - Welcome to Malaysia!
The Malaysia Experiment - Getting to Know the Players
The Malaysia Experiment - Why Wan?
The Malaysia Experiment - My Managerial Debut
The Malaysia Experiment - The First Step
The Malaysia Experiment - First Cut Is The Deepest
The Malaysia Experiment - David vs Goliath
The Malaysia Experiment - A New Malaysia?
The Malaysia Experiment - Here Comes The Doubters