Football time!

Where have all the Malaysia badges gone!!

Malaysia beat Laos 3 - 1 and qualified for the SEA Games football final - after a lapse and gold drought of 20 years. But what a crap it was., the semi final game. Malaysia - oops sorry - did I say Malaysia? or was it 1Malaysia or heck, was it just my eyesight? bloody hell that jerseys haven't got any Malaysian badge on it!! That semi final or rather the team was actually representing FAM and not Malaysia or 1Malaysia! An oversight or was it done on purposed? Can someone explain to me why the Malaysian Under 20 team - or for that matter - the football team have FAM badges on them and not the national one!

Anyway, I was shocked to witness the game - the standard of football , the 'way the Malaysian' team was playing. Schoolboy standards to say the least - ball control was terrible, no possession football, no vision, cant even passed the ball properly. Utterly rubbish. What a standard! I think they were lucky, really lucky and fluke to have beaten Laos. That guy who scored the second goal, was running aimlessly minutes earlier (when he had the ball), just did not know what to do with the ball - before he was brought down by the Laos player. And presto, a minute later he scored and became the instant hero!! But I tell you, come final, they will be slaughtered by Vietnam, if they produce that kind of football, that king of 'commitment!'.

We have a long way to go in this game. We must be serious if we want to put the country high up the pedestal of world football.


Good luck 1Malaysia. Good luck for the final.

My Idol

I read this article in the Sun UK today about ManUnited stars naming their heroes. ManUnited present stars chose their footballing heroes ranging from Maradona to Peter Schmeichel to Robson and Roy Keane. But what surprised me was the fact that none of them mentioned and idolised George Best or even Bobby Charlton or Cantonna. Sir Alex Fergusson chose Dennis Law as the hero and inspirational guy in his footballing career (being a Scot himself, he has chosen another Scotsman!).

It was unbelievable needless to say that no one from the present United team had worshipped and idolised George Best. Man United was at its greatest time during the days of George Best. They won the European Cup then and he even won the prestigous European footballer of the year award!

And for them not chosing Cantonna is also dumbfounded!. Cantonna took and changed the United team and led United to its glory years and the present state. It was the buy of the century and the catch of the season when Fergusson bought Cantonna from Leeds. He had such an influential season with Leeds then and when Leeds agreed to let him go to United. that was the beginning of the end of Leeds United. Now that Man United has brought in Owen to Old Trafford. Will Fergusson be able to revive Owen's career and bring him back to thye England set up? God knows but I believed Fergusson may have just the right tonic and ways to tap Owen's flagging career!.

Like Giggs, I had always looked for left footed footballers as my idol. Players like Hoddle and Ricardo Villa (of course from Tottenham Hotspur), and Gascionne. My earlier idol was Revelino (Brazil), the footballer famous for his powerful left-foot shots and superb ability from free-kicks. Ever since he scored that goal in the 1970 World Cup from an indirect freekick, after a flicked by Pele, I have been worshipping Revelino like crazy. I used to practice his 'freekick' and try to emulate his style of play.

Then came Martin Peters. When Peters joined Spurs after the World Cup in 1966 from West Ham United, my love and support for Spurs grew stronger ever than before. To me, Peters was the perfect footballer, on and off the field. England won the 1966 World Cup and it was mainly due to England's midfield trio of Allan Ball, Bobby Charlton and of course, Martin Peters!. He truly inspired me!

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ALEX FERGUSON said: "Denis was my hero. I idolised him. When I first met him I was so excited. It was at a game in Paris, he had played in the first half and we went for a cup of tea afterwards. I thought, 'This is it, I've made it!'
"He epitomised everything a Scotsman is about. He was daring and courageous, he had that bravado about him and he had style. He was a truly fantastic footballer." More...

Martin Peters

Three footballers rank at the top of the football cards league ladder for appearances between 1965 and 1980: Alan Ball, Martin Peters and Bobby Moore. The themes which link them are obvious: (1) they were members of the 1966 England World Cup winning team, ensuring their appearance on many cards from 1966 onwards and (2) their careers continued on well into the 1970s, meaning that they continued to be featured on cards of that period too.

Martin Peters was born in Plaistow, London on November 8, 1943. He began his football career as an apprentice at West Ham United in 1959, before signing on as a professional in November 1960. This was an era when West Ham were considered to have, on paper, one of the best sides in the league but never quite seemed to challenge for the Division One titles.

Peters made his England debut in May 1966, which makes it more remarkable that he was chosen for, and played a key role in, the World Cup Final victory. The World Cup final was only his 8th cap for England, and he went on to earn 59 more after that.

Peters' first appearance on a football card during the period covered by this site was in 1965/66 when he was featured in the Barratt & Co. A13 series of Famous Footballers.

More..

A 'Real' buy!

Ronaldo's move from Man United to Spanish giants Real Madrid sets a new world record. A ‘real’ buy indeed!. It reflects and tells you about how ‘sport’ is being played or being manipulated nowadays., not on the football fields or courts or golf course sbut rather elsewhere. I am sure, in Madrid, fans (children especially), has already started buying and wearing Ronaldo’s T-shirts. Other merchandise such as boots, socks, shorts or even under garments bearing Ronaldo's name would be the ‘hot’ items. When Beckham joined Real Madrid, Real Madrid jersey number 23 was seen almost every where in Madrid. Not so sure whether Man United has that ‘hero’ and iconic figure right now in their team. Nobody in the present line out has that kind of ‘attention’ - the one that Beckham or Ronaldo or even Cantona has, to fill up Man United coffers the way the three players did. Rooney, Ferdinand, Carrick, Fletcher or even Giggs nor the 'target signing of Franck Ribery have such a ‘superstar’ image as Ronaldo or Bechkam.

Despite all the attention, Ronaldo has been warned his career will spin into freefall if he gets caught up in the glitz and glamour of Madrid by Queiroz - the coach who enjoyed two spells as assistant to Fergusson at United. He said: "I have my opinion about my wish regarding the career of Cristiano - and I think Manchester United was the right club for him. There were a lot of compromises and deals away from the pitch. When the club is huge and you put together players like Figo, Zidane, and Roberto Carlos, the challenge is huge!"

Obviously the reason why Real Madrid signed Ronaldo, apart from his footballing skills, has got something to do with marketing reasons and those connected to fashion and television appearances. At Real Madrid, these things can happen very easily.

Even Sepp Blatter has backed Cristiano Ronaldo's £80million move to Real Madrid, claiming: He is football's Picasso. But the real winner will be the 24-year-old Portuguese goal ace. 'I have had my time at Manchester United. It's time to look forward and 80 million is quite a sum of money. The deal is historic'. Of course its flattering when two of the top teams in the world want you to play for them. Ronaldo will be paid about £225,000 a week - meaning his basic earnings over five years will be nearly £60million. His pre-contract deal also includes an option for a further year worth more than £13million. And Ronaldo could scoop a further £30million in profits from his clothing company CR9, which will be endorsed by Real Madrid. Meaning he stands to pocket a cool £17million a year if he stays at the Bernabeu for six seasons.
That made him only the fifth best-paid in the world, behind England's David Beckham, Brazilians Ronaldinho and Ronaldo and Barcelona's ex-Arsenal striker Thierry Henry.

That is how much the Spanish giants are expecting to bank from the marketing and merchandising opportunities they will exploit out of Ronaldo.
A top Madrid source said: "He would be a great commercial asset and he could be worth up to £510m over a 10-year period. Madrid no longer have David Beckham and it can have a long-term effect on the revenues.
"In this aspect, Cristiano would make a huge impact.
"Beckham helped Real overtake United as the club with the highest proceeds. Ronaldo could be the difference in the next five to 10 years."

English F A Cup Final

Chelsea 2 Everton 1. Despite taking a very early lead, an opportunistic goal by Saha, it was not enough to bring back the Cup to Goodison Park. Drogba equalised in the 21st. minute and after that it was a matter of time when will Chelsea get another goal. And it came thru Lampard who scored with his weak left foot but enough placement to beat a slightly off-position Howard. Chelsea got another one thru Mouluda but the goal, a reminiscene of 1966 goal scored by Geoff Hurst at 'old' Wembley, was disallowed. Television replay clearly showed that the ball did crossed the line. But justice was done, when at the final whistle, Chelsea won by 2 goals againsy 1. Ashley Cole was declared the man of the match. To me the award should have been awarded to Mikel Obi, he was magnificent in midmield and it was he who actually won the game for Chelsea. Chelsea Chelsea..!

Champion's League Result

Ole.. ole.. ole.. ole., Barca.. Boleh!! Yezzzir, it's Barcelona 2 Manchester United 0. Barcelona is the champion of Europe!. A goal each by Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi doomed the Red Devils. After a promising start and as early as the 2nd. minute, United had the chance to score but attempt by J Sung was blocked by Barca goalie. Barca started nervously but in the 10th. minute, out of the blue and thru a solo effort and fantastic controlled and dribllingskills, Eto'o found the net when he shot passed Van Der Vaar. Man United goalie should have stopped the shot, but being quite a tall goalie, his movement and reaction was slow and sluggish, and United were punished. Ronaldo then tried to show to the world his'footballing antics' and tried hard to put United on level terms but was frustrated by the close and tight marking, a trademark of European football.

Second half started with United pulling off Anderson and replacing him with Tevez. Tried as they may but clearly, United were desperate and their tactics were easily read by Barca. Then came the unexpected but spot on lobbed by Xavi who found Messi unmarked and he scored through a header. Ferdinand was the nearest to Messi but his marking was terrible. After the goal United became more panicked and desperate - they took offf J Sung with Barbatov and later Giggs with Scholes, but hell no, the devils left their shooting boots at home.

Fergusson gambled by playing Ferdinand and Giggs - they were too slow and sluggish and their movements were restricted bcos of tired legs. Van Der Saar is passed his prime. Messi and Iniesta clearly controlled the game and their approach to the final with short passing and closed marking, left the Devils frustrated. Rooney tried hard,. He even has his temper under controlled. Perhaps that was United mistake, asking Rooney to stay calm and cool. Ronaldo showed this towards the last quarter of the game and received yellow card for his foul on Puyol. Maybe the speculation and much talk of him moving to Real Madrid unsettled him. Anyway, hard luck United.., if only they were playing Chelsea, they could have won the trophy.

Champion League Results

Arsenal 1 Manchester United 3. Arsenal was truly beaten this time in London. There was no escape this time for Arsenal. Almunia could do nothing, Fabregas could do no passing and despite what Wenger did promise to give Man United a fight, it did not come. It took a rather awkward and lucky break for Man United though to be one goal up. Thanks to a slipped by Gibbs which left Park Ji Sung with the opportunity to score. He did and it was 0 - 1 Man United. Then came the strike by Ronaldo on the 11th. minutes after he was fouled by Van Persie. From almost 35 yards out, he unleashed a cracker and Almunia was beaten. Came half time and I expected Arsenal to come back charging after a brashing by Arsene Wenger but Fabregas and Co. must have known, realised and felt that Arsenal trophy cabinet will be bare again for another year. When Ronaldo scored again after a sensational breakthru out of Arsenal's corner, clearance by Vidic to Ronaldo, who passed the ball to Ji Sung, who then slipped it over to Rooney, who then crossed a curler and was well connected by Ronaldo for his 2nd. goal, Arsenal was in tatters!. Fletcher was sent out after a clumsy tackle on Fabregas whci ruled him out of the final in Rome. Van Persie converted the penalty but Arsenal was already dead and gone at the Emirates!. Fianal score, semi final of the Champion league... Man United 4 Arsenal 1. Glory glory Man United!

Tonight, Chelsea will play host to Barcelona in the other semi-final. Another London flop!? We'll see!

Champion League Results.

Man United 1 Porto FC 0. Arsenal 3 Villareal 0. Having taken an early lead in the 6th. minutes thru Ronaldo, Man United gave such a lethargic performance. They seemed to be lacking of ideas and keep on playing high thru balls which Porto players seemed delighted to contend with. They lacked command in midfield. The combination of Giggs, Ronaldo, Anderson and Carrick in midfield seemed lost and not functioning. Thus they resorted to long thru balls. Only Wayne Rooney worth mentioning and he was the only one that Porto had to keep at bay which they did.

Meanwhile, Arsenal joined Chelsea and did London proud by beating Villareal thru goals from Walcott, Adebayor and Van Persie (penalty). That penalty won by Arsenal when Walcott seemed to be fouled by Eguren was rather harsh. Nonetherless, Arsenal deserved to go thru to the semi final. Their engine in midfield, manning by Fabregas and Song kept Arsenal game going and a pleasure to watch. They are no longer boring to be watched but rather it was 'Boring.., Boring man United!'.

Forget Man United. Forget about Chelsea. Based on the current form and style of playing, I think the final is between Barca and Arsenal.

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Guano mu!!

What transpired in Kota Bharu last week during FAM football match between Negeri Sembilan and Kelantan was beyond belief. Just could not belief my eyes that they can actually do that. Even worst was the daring action of toppling and burning the police truck. Whatever the reason that Kelantanese may claimed, referree biased or the goal was uncounted or Negeri players 'curi ayam' or there was a pushing going on (was it the reason why Halim Napi was so bloody angry with Aidil Safuan!! Gosh!!) or ' whatever it was, their acts were uncalled for. FAM better act fast and remedy the situation.

I strongly belief that if we were to uplift our standard of living, then sport is the sector and avenue that we can relly on, the one that we must focus and concentrate upon. Kanu (formerly of Arsenal), Eissien, Eto'o and other African players came of age and became millionaires thru football. A lot of efforts is currently being done by the African government thru their football association to train more African kids to take up football seriously, to prepare them to be soccer players and to feed the European football clubs. Wake up Malaysians, Malaysia Boleh!!

Champion's League Results

Chelsea 3 Liverpool 1. Barcelona 4 Bayern Munich 0. Phew!! Wow! What a nite. What a results. Messy is really 'messing' around. Barca scored all 4 goals in the first half at the Nou Camp. Messi hit first , Eto'o got he second. Messi again and finally by Thierry Henry.

Liverpool is beaten at last!. Master minded by Guus Hiddink. They recovered after Torres had put Liverpool ahead. Ivanovic got the equaliser and then scored the 2nd before Drogba finally nailed the coffin on Liverpool with his goal coutersy of Malouda. Chelsea Chelsea!!

Tottenham 2 Liverpool 1

ROMAN PAVLYUCHENKO'S stoppage-time winner kept Liverpool from the top of the table and took Tottenham off the bottom.
Harry Redknapp's side matched their 4-4 comeback draw at Arsenal with another staggering revival.

Dirk Kuyt's third-minute opener had helped spark what seemed a dominant Liverpool display.
But Jamie Carragher nodded an own goal equaliser on 70 minutes.
And Spurs substitute Pavlyuchenko flicked home to leave Chelsea at the Premier League summit.
Redknapp said: "To beat a fantastic side like Liverpool is tremendous. .. MORE

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Tiba-tiba seronok balik jadi Spurs fan. Minta-minta Redknapp boleh bawak Spurs out of the relegation zone .. and of course stay in the Premier League. Personally, I thing Redknapp must handle Gomez properly .. that guy is the weakest link .. I think.

Kalah

Malaysia kalah kepada Vietnam menerusi sepakan penalty 6 - 5 selepas bertarong dalam pertandingan akhir Pestabola Merdeka. Pasokan yang nampat gah dan 'mengaum' tiba-tiba mengucing dan akhirnya menikus semasa di Final. Tidak boleh bayangkan keresahan penonton di Stadium apabila tengok cara Malaysia bermain bola. Apa yang dia orang belajar atau practice masa training, wallahualam. Nampak sangat tak boleh menyepak, tak boleh kontrol bola, tak reti nak passing, bak kata lain.. main buran je. Basic main bola pun tak da. Pamcit dan tak pandai create space. Zaki.. apo yang kau ajar ni? yang tua-tua macam Khairuddin Omar, Indra Putra, Zaki Misbah tu, tukar dan main futsal saja lah. Lagi pun kalau kalau semasa ke Thailand nanti ada reason.. team maseh muda.
FAM ni pun tak reti berniaga ke? Nama tournement 'Pestabola Merdeka' tapi buat tak kena bulan. Timing out. Spirit out. Amende you all ni? Pening pening!! Ada akhbar yang melaporkan penonton seramai 50,000 orang?? Stadium nampak banyak kosong.., 50,000 amende.

Take 5

Malaysia bimbang tekanan

SHAH ALAM - Skuad negara telah pun mencatat kemenangan moral menentang Nepal pada pertemuan sulung Pestabola Merdeka malam ini apabila pengurus lawan, Rajendra Singh mengakui Malaysia sebuah pasukan hebat untuk ditandingi.
.... LAGI
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What? Pestabola Merdeka? Bila? Dimana? Siapa lawan siapa? Malaysia bertanding ke?!! Jepun, Korea Selatan datang ke? Singapore mari ka? Such a state of Malaysian football. Nak adakan pertandingan penuh dengan dilemma. Tiada pilehan terpaksa jemput team yang dahulunya tak masuk 'book' pun. Shame on you all footballers! Makan gaji main bola tapi performance hampeh!! Buat malu FAM, buat malu Malaysia. Yang herannya you all tak malu pun!! Dilemma Bolasepak Malaysia!

Sunderland 1 Arsenal 1

Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas wheels away after rescuing a point for Arsenal.

ARSENAL dropped two more points in the title race at the Stadium of Light.
Arsene Wenger's men believed they had erased last week's defeat to Hull following their Champions League thrashing of Porto in midweek.
But Sunderland's battling stars had other ideas and gave the Gunners a real fright.

Roy Keane's side might have had all three points after Grant Leadbitter's 86th-minute rocket put them in front.
But Cesc Fabregas headed home in the third minute of injury time to rescue a draw for the visitors.
Wenger claimed Sunderland's defensive tactics made it hard to break them down. ..MORE
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After the game, Arsene Wenger blamed Sunderland for their defensive game which of course resulted in the 1 - 1 draw. Wenger frustration is expected. But then Roy Keanne's tactic is also expected of Sunderland. Keanne's strategy was to defence and counter attact whenever they have the chance, and it works for them! Arsene Wenger knew it but couldnot break Roy Keanne's tactic!.

Other EPL results played last nite.

Blackburn 0 Man United 2
Sunderland 1 Arsenal 1
Wigan 0 Middlesbrough 1
West Brom 1 Fulham 0
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This incidence reminded me of my HBP (Housing Building & Planning) inter year football game in USM. We had to plan the team strategy when my team (Year 1) was drawn to meet Year 2 for our first game. And we had to think hard because half of the Year 2 team players were from the present university football team. We had a simple game plan, that is to defense and only to attack when we had the chance to do so. We had a very reliable goalkeeper in Wan Osman (he played goalkeeper for the University team), a strong backline in Zul Ismail (he's the fullback, the stopper for USM hockey team), Mahadi as the centre forward, Musa and Bakar Johar as wingers and yours truly manning the midfield. The strategy worked, we frustrated the opposing team so much so that they began to fight with each other and lost their concentration and lost the game!. Would you believed it, we won 2 - 0. Both goals scored by Mahadi. My team eventually won the tournement when we beat Year 3 in the final!

Ramos keeps faith in Spurs

Under-fire Tottenham boss Juande Ramos is determined to turn the club’s season around after their worst league start for 53 years.
Ramos was in the spotlight after fans turned on him during the 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth last Sunday, although there was no suggestion from within the club that his position is insecure.
Spurs’ efforts to do so start in Poland against Wisla Krakow on Thursday when they look to reach the group stages of the UEFA Cup by defending a 2-1 lead.
Then they face Hull at the weekend in their attempt to climb off the bottom of the Premier League. ... MORE.

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The headline should have been 'Spurs keeps faith in Spurs' instead. Spurs has themselves to blame for the poor start to their Premier League campaign this season. It is expected actually when the management decided to sell off and dump Keanne, Berbatov and Defoe. I pray hard that Ramos can turn around the team and to get them out of the danger zone, the soonest possible.

I became a fan of Spurs since the days of Martin Peters - yes, you guessed correctly, eversince the 60's. I remembered going through the Shoot magazine at Mubaruk Bookstore, Ipoh old town, during my schooling days, just to catch the 'latest' news on English football especially so on my fav footballer - Peters. I cant remember the price though but I did make the order from the bookstore for the Shoot magazine to be sent by post. I spent nearly all my allowances buying this magazine, can you imagine that. Anyway, it was because of Martin Peters that I became a Spurs fan. Having witnessed how Peters helped England captured the 1966 World Cup, to me then, there was no other and better players in England than Martin Peters. Of course, eventually Spurs had other 'Star' players as well, such Hoddle, Gascionne, Ardilles, Villa, Archibald, Teddy Sheringham, Anderton, Campbell, David Ginola, Linekar and Klinsmann. But nothing compares to Martin Peters.

Audere est Facere (lit: "To Dare Is to Do")