The Malaysia Experiment - We're Halfway There?

"I don't want to do anything halfway.
It has to be perfect." - Bruce Lee

There are quite a few things to update before we proceed to the last match that concludes the first half of the FIFA World Cup Qualifying Section Final Stage.

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First and foremost, our Under 19s are taking Asia by storm! The went on this incredible run in the Asian U19 Championship, all the way to the final, before losing to the eventual champions South Korea Under 19s 3-1. The boys were really good that they recorded 7-0 wins twice, first against Saudi Arabia Under 19s, and then against Uzbekistan Under 19s in the semifinal!

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Our boys dominated the All-Star XI with 7 of them being selected! We also won Fair Play award with 0 discipline points. The future looks bright!

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The Malaysian Super League closes its curtains for the season and Johor DT reclaims the trophy after coming in second for the past two seasons. Thomas Irudianathan (AMR) provided the most assists (14) and I definitely need to look at including him in my national team in the future. Saddam El-Hafedz Shahri (GK) is doing himself no good by remaining in Johor DT as he is behind Bledar Hajdini in the pecking order. Hajdini (Kosovo) accumulated 13 clean sheets while Yeo Kok Luen could only collect 7 of them.

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We've played against United Arab Emirates (66th) in the quarterfinals of the Asian Nations Cup last year, whereby we won by a slim one-goal victory. They lined up an unconventional 3-4-1-2 while they were under Alberto Zaccheroni, who was unfortunately sacked right after hosting the Asian Nations Cup. Now that Abdulla Ahmed Mesfer has taken over, they're back to the classic 4-4-2. Their strikers Ali Mabkhout (30 years old) and Omar Abdulrahman (29 years old) are the standout players. Our defense has really got to up their game tonight.

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In the 19th minute, after having possession for a while, the ball came through to Luqman Hussain (AML) on the left. He sent in a ground pass and Hamed Mohammed Juma (DC) ended up on the wrong side of Ibrahim Salleh (ST), who was deputizing for the injured Muhaimin Jamaludin (ST). All that was left to do for Salleh was to kick it past the Abdullah Mohammed Al-Jesmi (GK)! We were 1-0 up within 20 minutes! I'll be expecting a backlash from their star strikers. Hold on tight, guys!

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It was a pretty quiet half after our goal, while it was goals galore elsewhere. Japan (1st in Group A) and currently drawn 2-2 with Saudi Arabia (6th in Group A), and if results stand, it's good news for the Harimau Malaya.

This match ended up with an identical result as the previous meeting - one-nil win to us. This time we deserved the win as we had 8 shots on target compared to their measly 2 shots. We also had slightly more possession. We hang on to second place in the group with half of the games played. My dreams of bringing Malaysia to the World Cup stage is within touching distance! :)

If you enjoyed this entry,
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The Malaysia Experiment - Pitstop at Qatar

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