FOOTBALL IN MALAYSIA ,TODAY

Malaysia used to be a powerhouse in world of football during the 70’s and the 80’s; however, not today. In 1972, Malaysia managed to qualify for the Olympics and tried their best to qualify for the world cup a year later (Maximus). The country has an incredible facilities and stadiums but the outcomes have never been satisfied. We might have won AFF Suzuki cup and also a gold medal during the Asian games but we still cannot perform consistently at international stage. The factors are improper lifestyle of the Malaysian players, the mentality of the people who manage FAM and the players and the methods used by FAM are not good enough. I would like to ask you, Malaysians, why is it the position of Malaysia in FIFA ranking is worst compared to the likes of Syria and Palestine?

 The lifestyle of the players in Malaysia need to be changed as it affects the way the footballers play on the field. Eating habit can be an example of the lifestyle. Eating habit affects the performances of the athlete. I think, the athletes should be handed a proper diet program and they should obey the instructions. Ryan Giggs is the best example as he eats wisely in order to maintain his fitness.  He is currently 39 years old and still representing his club which is Manchester United. He is the oldest player to have scored during the Olimpics Games. He practices Yoga to prolonging his Manchester United career(Christenson).

In Malaysia, most of the players are Muslims. I think Solat is much more better than yoga.  One of the techniques that yoga uses is the method of lowering the head to the ground which is the same as “sujud” in performing solah and the name of the technique is Adha Mukha Svasana. Adha Muka Svasana is a technique which imitates the movement that we, Muslim always do while performing solah which is “sujud”(Danial). In addition, in Malaysia, players cannot eat healthily simply due to the foods being cooked here. For example, during Hari Raya , players might eat Ketupat, Rendang and soft drinks a lot. Malaysian players are not being discipline enough. If they are discipline , I think , their body might have been bulked up since they follow the eating diet. For example , you look at Cristiano Ronaldo; his body has changed drastically after joining Manchester United as an 18-year-old schoolboy. It was because he followed the diet program and he has worked hard on it. Why cant we have this sort of player in our country,Why? Why?.

 Second factor is the mentality of the Malaysian players. The players always take things easy in my opinion. They never feel gratitude with the facilities that have been given by the government. If they are feeling gratitude with the facilities that they have got ,I m quite sure , they will work more harder and they will produce a better result. Besides that, even though our country is free of internal crisis or war, but still cannot compete with the Syrians in terms of FIFA ranking. Syria are currently having civil war and still manages to compete with Malaysia which are peaceful and harmony. It is all in the player’s heads as I think they might think that they are not capable of competing with higher and stronger players. In contrast, look at Spainish national team, they do have small players but they won a couple of European cups and a World cup owing to having high level of skills.

 The youth setup is not a very good one .Young players who represent their schools are allowed to do so even though they do not pass Bahasa Malaysia paper. If we want to produce intelligent footballers we ought to make sure that they at least pass the national examination. Malaysia ought to have this kind of standard to make sure that the footballers that we produced are capable of applying the knowledge that they have learnt and be able to play well. In my opinion the football association in Malaysia is not grooming the players inside out; meaning to say grooming the players physically and also mentality and not to forget spiritually. That is why players who have the potential to be successful cannot be one as they are not mentally and spiritually prepared.

Lastly, FAM’ s methods are not good enough to produce an excellent result.The president of FAM, Sultan Ahmad  should step down as he has been in charged since 1984 but there is a slight improvement as we won Suzuki cup a couple of years back. Politic affairs should not get involved in this organization as the changes in the political cabinets are going to affect the organization(Maximus). Former sportsmen should have an opportunity to lead this organization as they know what it takes to be an athlete. Besides that, they former sportsmen have the passion what they are doing and never think about the position and money that they might receive.

 We had been conquering Asia for a quite long period of time in the past, and I would like to see Malaysia to do it again in the future.  I am quite sure everybody wants to see another Mokhtar Dahari to run at the defense and terrorize them with a powerful shot and mesmerizing skills. I believe, the day will come but not near the future.  Most of the staffs and players are Malays. So, are we going to be the generation that going to lead our own society to a brand new efficient working culture?

PS: I m not being stereotypical but I think we ought to wake up from a long happy sweet dream.