Where Did Malaysian Football Go Wrong?
By L. Jaiarajo.
The staging of FIFA's showcase, the 2006 World Cup tournament in Germany, some thousands of miles away from Malaysian shores, has not failed to grip the entire nation with a kind of atmosphere that is set to linger on long after the final game on July 9.
Unfortunately, no Malaysian fans have the opportunity to support our national team for this edition of the World Cup finals or since the tournament's inception in 1930.
Though reality or the truth always hurts, judging by the national team's current performance, the dream of seeing a Malaysian team in action at the World Cup final round may well remain an illusion for many years to come.
OLYMPICS
For the record, the Malaysian squad had never made it to the World Cup finals although they did qualify for the 1972 and 1980 Olympics in Germany and Moscow respectively.
At the Munich Olympics 1972, Malaysia put up a commendable show with host West Germany, managing to hold the Germans to a scoreless first half before succumbing to three goals with no reply in the final 45 minutes.
They gained some measure of pride after defeating the United States 3-0 in the next game but were bundled out from playing in the next round after the 6-0 crushing reverse to Morocco in their last group match.
The national side did not take part in the Moscow Olympics after heeding a United States-led boycott of the Games due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
It was rather unfortunate as the Malaysian squad, led by the controversial German coach Karl Heinz Weigang, had beaten a strong South Korean side who featured players like Kim Jae Han and Cha Beum Kun, to qualify for the Olympics.
Since then Malaysian football had sunk so low into a quagmire that could have made the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, the country's first prime minister and "father" of Malaysian football, turned restlessly in his grave.
In 1951, Tunku became the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) president. FAM was inducted as a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1954 before becoming a full-fledge member of the international soccer federation (FIFA) two years later.
Tunku's love for the game was the catalyst for the construction of the Merdeka Stadium, and in 1957, it became the hallowed ground for all Malaysians when it was the venue to announce Malaya's independence.
MERDEKA TOURNAMENT
During that time, Malaysia was also home to one of the oldest football events in the region, the Merdeka Tournament, held in conjunction with the country's independence in 1957.
With such a head start over the others in the region, Malaysia was a leading football force and enjoyed success in the 60s right up to the early 80s.
The best years of Malaysian football were undoubtedly from the early 1970s to the early 80s. Malaysia, Japan and South Korea were the three main rivals in Asia, each always treating one another with respect.
But while the Japanese and South Koreans have made quantum leaps since, to compete at the world stage, Malaysia's fortunes have taken a dip for the worst.
Japan and South Korea, ranked 18 and 29 respectively, also made headlines in 2002, by jointly hosting the World Cup and the Koreans went one better by making it to the semi-finals.
This time around, both countries are also featuring in Germany while the Malaysian team's ranking continue to slip from 118 to 127, lower than some of the poorest countries in the world like Sudan (97) and Ethiopia (112).
SOUTHEAST ASIAN
With Malaysian football no longer able to dominate even at the Southeast Asian level, local football fans have slowly turned their interest to foreign leagues in Europe, especially the English Premier League as well as the Spanish and Italian Leagues.
Football critics put the blame on FAM's inefficient and autocratic management for the downfall of Malaysian football.
There could be some truth to this as many foreign coaches, who met successes with other teams, had come and gone without making much headway.
In December 2000, Allan Harris was the second big name to be brought in as coach of the Malaysian national side after Frenchman Claude Leroy booked a one-way ticket home.
Harris came with strong credentials, having assisted Terry Venables in Barcelona, but soon found the Malaysian job to be a little too demanding with limited resources at his disposal as most players had little or no international exposure at the highest level.
Midway through his tenure with the national side, he was told to take over the National Under-23 team and as a result, youth development became his baby.
The last straw came when Harris' charges lost 0-4 to China in a World Cup qualifier, thus his contract was not renewed when it ended in 2004.
Before leaving, Harris told the local press that he found it difficult to do his job right when "the players didn't even know which shoes to wear for different pitch conditions".
HUNGARIAN GOALKEEPER
In the second half of 2004, FAM decided on a successor to Harris, employing former Hungarian goalkeeper and national coach Bertalan Bicskei.
A no-nonsense Bicskei, led the national side to a good showing at the regional Tiger Cup competition, finishing third by beating Vietnam 2-1 despite having a squad which was deemed "not strong enough".
However, despite the success, Bicskei was not to remain head coach for long.
FAM issued him a show-cause letter for his actions during a friendly against Singapore in Penang on June 8 last year when disgusted by the standard of officiating, he threw a bottle onto the pitch before storming to confront a Singapore player.
Subsequently, Bicskei was demoted to youth development duties and finally fired on Dec 15 last year when his youth team lost 0-7 to Thailand.
But in all fairness, grooming a set of players for national duty is not the job of a national coach because a coach is not supposed to go into the very basics at that level.
BALL SKILLS
Just like England coach Sven-Goran Ericksson, his German counterpart Jurgen Klinsman or Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, a national coach must have at his disposal a set of players who have the quality, skills and desire to excel at the highest level.
Failing which, it will be a waste of money to bring in foreign coaches as even the best coach in the world cannot propel a bunch of players to instant success.
Players must come through a structured development programme, which gives importance to ball skills above everything else.
Just look at where the Brazilians are with their exuberant ball skills.
In Brazilian academies, which number in the thousands, the emphasis is on ball skills, like juggling. Endurance training takes a back seat in their early training years.
The reason: Endurance can be acquired over a short period and at a later stage while learning ball skills at an advanced age might be difficult.
BEST PLAYERS
Looking at some of the world's best players, be it Pele, Maradona, Michael Platini, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo or any Brazilian player for that matter, one element that separates them from the rest is their exceptional ball skills and not their endurance.
Malaysian players, more often than not, are comfortable with playing for their respective states and have no desire to play at a different level unlike players from countries like Japan, South Korea or rising force China whose players are already making an impact in major leagues in Europe.
-- A BERNAMA FEATURE.
The staging of FIFA's showcase, the 2006 World Cup tournament in Germany, some thousands of miles away from Malaysian shores, has not failed to grip the entire nation with a kind of atmosphere that is set to linger on long after the final game on July 9.
Unfortunately, no Malaysian fans have the opportunity to support our national team for this edition of the World Cup finals or since the tournament's inception in 1930.
Though reality or the truth always hurts, judging by the national team's current performance, the dream of seeing a Malaysian team in action at the World Cup final round may well remain an illusion for many years to come.
OLYMPICS
For the record, the Malaysian squad had never made it to the World Cup finals although they did qualify for the 1972 and 1980 Olympics in Germany and Moscow respectively.
At the Munich Olympics 1972, Malaysia put up a commendable show with host West Germany, managing to hold the Germans to a scoreless first half before succumbing to three goals with no reply in the final 45 minutes.
They gained some measure of pride after defeating the United States 3-0 in the next game but were bundled out from playing in the next round after the 6-0 crushing reverse to Morocco in their last group match.
The national side did not take part in the Moscow Olympics after heeding a United States-led boycott of the Games due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
It was rather unfortunate as the Malaysian squad, led by the controversial German coach Karl Heinz Weigang, had beaten a strong South Korean side who featured players like Kim Jae Han and Cha Beum Kun, to qualify for the Olympics.
Since then Malaysian football had sunk so low into a quagmire that could have made the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, the country's first prime minister and "father" of Malaysian football, turned restlessly in his grave.
In 1951, Tunku became the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) president. FAM was inducted as a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1954 before becoming a full-fledge member of the international soccer federation (FIFA) two years later.
Tunku's love for the game was the catalyst for the construction of the Merdeka Stadium, and in 1957, it became the hallowed ground for all Malaysians when it was the venue to announce Malaya's independence.
MERDEKA TOURNAMENT
During that time, Malaysia was also home to one of the oldest football events in the region, the Merdeka Tournament, held in conjunction with the country's independence in 1957.
With such a head start over the others in the region, Malaysia was a leading football force and enjoyed success in the 60s right up to the early 80s.
The best years of Malaysian football were undoubtedly from the early 1970s to the early 80s. Malaysia, Japan and South Korea were the three main rivals in Asia, each always treating one another with respect.
But while the Japanese and South Koreans have made quantum leaps since, to compete at the world stage, Malaysia's fortunes have taken a dip for the worst.
Japan and South Korea, ranked 18 and 29 respectively, also made headlines in 2002, by jointly hosting the World Cup and the Koreans went one better by making it to the semi-finals.
This time around, both countries are also featuring in Germany while the Malaysian team's ranking continue to slip from 118 to 127, lower than some of the poorest countries in the world like Sudan (97) and Ethiopia (112).
SOUTHEAST ASIAN
With Malaysian football no longer able to dominate even at the Southeast Asian level, local football fans have slowly turned their interest to foreign leagues in Europe, especially the English Premier League as well as the Spanish and Italian Leagues.
Football critics put the blame on FAM's inefficient and autocratic management for the downfall of Malaysian football.
There could be some truth to this as many foreign coaches, who met successes with other teams, had come and gone without making much headway.
In December 2000, Allan Harris was the second big name to be brought in as coach of the Malaysian national side after Frenchman Claude Leroy booked a one-way ticket home.
Harris came with strong credentials, having assisted Terry Venables in Barcelona, but soon found the Malaysian job to be a little too demanding with limited resources at his disposal as most players had little or no international exposure at the highest level.
Midway through his tenure with the national side, he was told to take over the National Under-23 team and as a result, youth development became his baby.
The last straw came when Harris' charges lost 0-4 to China in a World Cup qualifier, thus his contract was not renewed when it ended in 2004.
Before leaving, Harris told the local press that he found it difficult to do his job right when "the players didn't even know which shoes to wear for different pitch conditions".
HUNGARIAN GOALKEEPER
In the second half of 2004, FAM decided on a successor to Harris, employing former Hungarian goalkeeper and national coach Bertalan Bicskei.
A no-nonsense Bicskei, led the national side to a good showing at the regional Tiger Cup competition, finishing third by beating Vietnam 2-1 despite having a squad which was deemed "not strong enough".
However, despite the success, Bicskei was not to remain head coach for long.
FAM issued him a show-cause letter for his actions during a friendly against Singapore in Penang on June 8 last year when disgusted by the standard of officiating, he threw a bottle onto the pitch before storming to confront a Singapore player.
Subsequently, Bicskei was demoted to youth development duties and finally fired on Dec 15 last year when his youth team lost 0-7 to Thailand.
But in all fairness, grooming a set of players for national duty is not the job of a national coach because a coach is not supposed to go into the very basics at that level.
BALL SKILLS
Just like England coach Sven-Goran Ericksson, his German counterpart Jurgen Klinsman or Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, a national coach must have at his disposal a set of players who have the quality, skills and desire to excel at the highest level.
Failing which, it will be a waste of money to bring in foreign coaches as even the best coach in the world cannot propel a bunch of players to instant success.
Players must come through a structured development programme, which gives importance to ball skills above everything else.
Just look at where the Brazilians are with their exuberant ball skills.
In Brazilian academies, which number in the thousands, the emphasis is on ball skills, like juggling. Endurance training takes a back seat in their early training years.
The reason: Endurance can be acquired over a short period and at a later stage while learning ball skills at an advanced age might be difficult.
BEST PLAYERS
Looking at some of the world's best players, be it Pele, Maradona, Michael Platini, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo or any Brazilian player for that matter, one element that separates them from the rest is their exceptional ball skills and not their endurance.
Malaysian players, more often than not, are comfortable with playing for their respective states and have no desire to play at a different level unlike players from countries like Japan, South Korea or rising force China whose players are already making an impact in major leagues in Europe.
-- A BERNAMA FEATURE.
posted by The Malaysian. at 6/24/2006 10:54:00 PM
6 Comments:
Malaysian players just don't have enough quality these days..
And our soccer league doesn't provide enough incentives for young generation to consider it a good career.
And notice how often did FAM say must produce young players in national team, and then always use new players in the squad and neglecting established and experience players.
Simple solution, disband the FAM and hire people who actually know what football is!!!
Disbanding the FAM or at least drastically changing the leadership has been suggested a million times, but Daniel, who listens?
Since the father and son took over FAM in early 1980s, the standard of football has gone down hill. The flip flop decisions they took, yes to foreigners, no foreigners, than only two than only 3.
Don't forget salary caps they imposed when Pahang was the one abusing it. Does it make sense for a footballer to have salary cap where by his playing career is only a few years.will he do his best or will you get the best players. They can't even put in place a proper contract and transfer system that will be respected and folowed by the teams and the players.
So time for this guys to go.
very nicely done, and fairly thorough i must say.malaysian football scene will be better with politician-free!
Mr. Bicskei did lead the Malaysian Team till the 110 place on the World Ranking. And now? they have the 153-th! He was the best coach for Malaysia the last 20 years!
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