The Malaysia Experiment - Nagoya Adventures

"七転び八起き"
"Stumbling seven times but recovering eight.
Perseverance is better than defeat." - Japanese Idiom

Fresh from a great start to our FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, this trip to Japan was more like a reward for the whole squad. I even gave the team an off day for them to explore Nagoya.

Screen Shot 2018-09-07 at 11.26.06 PM.png

It was a little more than 4 months since we last met in the semifinal of Asian Nations Cup. Of course, we lost to the better team on that day. We lost to a single goal by Shôgo Takahashi (ST). I was proud of the boys' performance despite the defeat, especially that of our left back - Muhd Syazwan Ismawi. We head into tonight's match in a relaxed mood so I gave my fringe players a chance to play and show me what they can do. I also gave debuts to Muhd Azrul Jaffri (DR) and Mohd Arif Muhamad (AML).

Screen Shot 2018-09-07 at 11.29.47 PM.png

They attacked us right from the get-go and the gulf in class was clear for all to see. It was only until the 27th minute when we finally managed a shot, and it wasn't even on target! Gonzalo Ganalingam (DMC) blasted it way over the goal. By the end of the half, they've had 18 shots with 7 on target. Thankfully, none of them found the net as Sree Ghanisheelan (GK) was excellently marshaling between his goal posts. I made some changes with Yusof Hashim (17 years old) playing in goal and Jasni Abidin (17 years old) in for Ibrahim Salleh (18 years old) up front.

Screen Shot 2018-09-08 at 12.37.35 AM.png

Right after the restart, Atsushi Anzai managed to beat the offside trap after some miscommunication amongst our centre backs, Mansor Mohd Noor (18 years old) and Shakir Roslan (18 years old). Poor Hashim. His first touch of the ball was to pick it out from the net. We finally cracked under constant pressure and their lead was well deserved.

Screen Shot 2018-09-08 at 12.43.39 AM.png

I made another substitution in the 51st minute, bringing in Armuhum Gurusamy Govandar (MC). He made an instant impact three minutes later when we had a corner. Ishak kicked the ball to Gnanalingam, who in turn set up Gurusamy Govandar. He lashed out an unstoppable volley. Just check out the distance! Yoshikiyo Koizumi couldn't get to it and it found the netting! GOAL! 1-1. I couldn't believe it.

I then changed my tactics to counter-attack and we managed to keep them at bay, limiting them to long shots. We had another corner in the 91st minute and we tried the same routine. This time Tôri Mori was quick to close down Gurusamy Govandar so he ended up passing the ball to Abidin. The ball ended up at Roslan's feet with the goal at his mercy. Koizumi managed a top-class save from point-blank range to prevent us from sneaking a win in injury time.

Screen Shot 2018-09-07 at 11.35.08 PM.png

As you can see, they totally dominated us. 64% possession and 83% of the shots. We're really lucky to come away with a draw. The boys are really happy with the result but I never had much expectation from this match. I'm just glad I managed to get the boys to play together and familiarize themselves with my tactics and each other. Keeping the unbeaten run going is definitely a bonus.

It's mid-June now and the next competitive international fixture doesn't happen until early September. In the meantime, I guess I'll be watching club football, and eagerly anticipation the next crop of newgens to surface. :)

If you enjoyed this entry, do check out my previous posts
from where it all started, right up to now.