Malaysia Cup Final Kelantan 1-3 Negeri Sembilan

Just finished watching the final. It was an excellent game. I have to admit that the players played well, and the football was good. I am happy that the NS player responded to the challenge. The raised the standard of their play.

Compared to the game I watched last week, NS team responded well. Their first touches were excellent, and they seemed to have enough ideas to create chances... I was really impressed by few NS players..

1) Hairuddin Omar: NS made the right decision by taking this player on loan. He was superb throughout. He was technically superior than most other NS player, and his work rate was excellent. Good that he got his reward by scoring the 2nd goal.

2) NS 1st goal scorer (forgot the name). He played well tirelessly. The first goal was quite weird, however, he was quick to react. He even contributed the penalty, from which Zaquan Adha scored.

3) NS no 6: He is a damn hardworking player. Got yellow carded in the end, which he deserved, but who cares. He has been working all over the pitch, and never stopped running when his service was required.

4) The chinaman defender.

5) IDRIS KARIM. Somehow, he played much better, and made use of both his feet (instead of using just the left one like last time). At least he passed and tackled using his right, even though shooting is quite difficult. Anyway, putting him slightly behind seems to stabilise the team, which allows hairuddin to roam the space behind the striker.

I think, overall the team played well, although I was not happy that Zaquan took the penalty kick. I do not have personal vendetta (like mr snomed3 said about me) against him, just that I hate seeing footballers going for the glamorous world ( like this twin, one kawin lari with Rita Rudaini, and the other dating Ayu Raudhah). I mean, focus on football. Have you heard Hairuddin dating celebrities like that? Or Indra Putra? I mean, focus on your football, not your balls....

Anyway, I am happy that the better team won. NS managed to snuff out Indra Putra tonight, although finally we saw what Indra was capable of doing...

Just some points for improvement...

1) Volley/ first timer.. We hardly seen malaysian being able to keep the ball low and on target on the first touch.. I think it's all about technique. I remember watching Kedah v Selangor, the import guy did just that and scored a goal. A local guy also scored in similar fashion. I really think malaysian players need to improve on this..

2) First touches.. although tonight was better than the game the week before...

3) Free kick.. The chance that the ball gets lifted above the wall is slim.. I think we need to work on the free kick. But what Indra did was awesome..

Anyway, one thing that worries me was the distinctive quality of Indra/ Hairuddin n co. These players were from the Skuad olimpik (If I am not mistaken), and seems that after the project, players from the team became backbone to their individual club. It is worrying to see these people go without a suitable replacement..

Lastly, majulah sukan untuk negara...