"There will be haters, there will be doubters,
there will be non-believers, and then
there will be you proving them wrong." - Jennifer Van Allen
It's time to welcome Jordan (81st) to Bukit Jalil Stadium. This time I decided to call up players based on ability, rather than recent form. I suffered a backlash from the press while Kunanlan and Mohd Shas came to me personally to seek assurances.
It has never been easy to try out new things. Humans are creatures of habit. Familiarity gives a sense of security. I was lucky to get off the hook the past few times, but this time it has finally come and bit me. I'm glad that the senior players were understanding, though Brendan Gan showed some concerns that I've picked too many uncapped players. I do hope that the players chosen will prove their worth and repay my faith.
I wouldn't have expected us to be strong favorites to win. Sadly, even with the high chance of winning, we're still expecting a low turnout - 33,400 (not even half of the 87,411 capacity ground).
Going to play a varied 4-2-3-1 wide formation, with one of the CM dropping back so that Abdul Razak can be in a more familiar role. It is also worth mentioning that Salleh and Jamalidin are playing in pretty unfamiliar roles. The first half went by with nothing worth noting. It is in the second half when the game sprung to life. First, it was another trademark cross from Abdul Razak, and controlled perfectly by Jasni Abidin, who then fired it into the net. A few minutes later, Salleh and Jamaludin, both strikers playing out of positions, connected a cross from the right with a thumping header. We're up by 2 goals.
I then proceeded with my substitutions, as well as a change of formation. I brought in Barath Kumar to replace Hussain on the left, Mohd Said to replace Jamaludin on the right, and Brendan Gan to replace Ismail. I changed my tactics to 4-4-2 wide diamond, the same formation as I used against Afghanistan a month ago. Brendon Gan then scored a poacher's effort and sealed the game. The only blot on an otherwise impressive outing was Abdul Ghani pulling his groin in the 93rd minute. :/
I've got to make a mention of the man of the match - Abdul Razak. He made 5 key passes, created 2 chanaces which one of them led to our opening goal. We are firmly in control of our own destiny in Asian Nations Cup Qualifying Group F. We're leading with 10 points, Tajikistan in 2nd with 7 points, Jordan in 3rd with 5 points and Afghanistan still without a point. We can actually seal qualification in the next match against Takijistan, which will give me an extra match to try out other players and tactics.
Next, we're flying to Vietnam for a friendly. I heard it's pretty cool during this time of the year, at around 11°C. I definitely need to pack up some warm autumn coats.
I'll be giving out debuts to Gonzalo Gnanlingam (he was born in Argentina), Hafiz Azman and K. Kannan (not to be mistaken as a Singapore forward with the same name) who has been called up to replace Abdul Ghani (pulled groin from the last match). The irony is that his name when pronounced in Malay, means 'right', but he's playing at left back.
We're leading at halftime with an excellent game by Ismail so far. He provided an assist to Abidin for the opener, and then scored a stunner himself on the edge of the penalty box. I brought on 4 changes, to give some match time to as many players as possible. In the 67th minute, with the match pretty much in the bag, I brought in the seniors - Brendan Gan and Pannirselvam.
They actually pulled 2 back in a matter of 1 minute! I'm not too bothered as the boys played really well against Jordan a few days ago. So the game ended in a 2-2 draw. I would say that everyone went home happy. I would also think that I proved the doubters wrong. A win and a draw is a pretty good result. :)
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?