The Malaysia Experiment - Why Wan?

My worst nightmare has happened. On Christmas day of all days. :/ I received a text from Cheng Hoe early in the morning. Still feeling groggy from a late night Christmas countdown. This text woke me up.

My future star, Wan Kuzain, is considering USA switch! I've yet to even have the chance to call him up to represent Malaysia. By noon, my worst fears have come true. :( To be honest, he never really lived in Malaysia, so he wouldn't call this home. But to miss out on the opportunity to be a part of making history together (and also eating durian as well), I think he made the wrong choice.

It's surprising that Malaysia kept moving up the world rankings without any games played. In January, we moved up 8 places to 156th. The following month we moved up another place. Then in March another 4 places to 151st. It's not that I mind but it felt a bit strange. Perhaps other nations weren't doing too well.

The Malaysian Super Leauge finally started on the 4th of February but I decided to attend a game the following week. It was Johor DT hosting Melaka. I was there to keep tabs of my star GK but I also heard some scouting reports of a wonderboy by the name of Haji Mohd Yusop. As I seated myself and opened the program notes, I was glad to see that he was at least on the bench. The match kicked off and Diaz the Argentinian scored in the 13th minute. Johor DT was of course by far the stronger team. Halftime came with not much action. Diaz scored another goal on the 65th minute and then the Johor DT manager called for a substitute. Mohd Yusop was going to see some action!

In the 71st minute, Johor DT was awarded a penalty. Naturally, Diaz stepped up as he was on a hattrick, but he missed! A few minutes later, I spotted Lok dribbling on the right wing, then he whipped a cross in, and the next thing I saw was Mohd Yusop rising above and headed in the cross. GOAL! The wonderboy has scored! I couldn't be happier to see a future star in the making. The trip down to Johor was well worth it. I can now forget about Wan Kuzain. ;)

A few weeks went on without much new except minor injuries here and there. I decided to schedule some friendlies as Tan Cheng Hoe doesn't seem to be making much progress, even after I gave specific instructions to arrange some friendlies. The first one I decided to go to Hong Kong. We'll be playing at Tseung Kawn O Sports Ground, but I'm actually looking forward to the food and some shopping. I've also invited Singapore over for a friendly a day before Hari Kebangsaan. I guess it's about time to remind them who's the big brother.

I've also arranged 2 more friendlies with our neighboring rivals - Vietnam (141st) and Thailand (132nd). Let's give Malaysians something to shout about this year. Of course, there's also Asian Cup Qualifying Group F matches against Afganistan (154th), Jordan (86th) and Tajikistan (114th). Needless to say, Jordan would pose the most trouble, while I shouldn't underestimate the 'tans' as well. Only winners will qualify for the group stages. That would be a goal I'd set for me and my boys.