Wah lajunya derang main

Semalam, aku tengah menonton TV, sports channel. Maka, datanglah sang isteri hendak belajar tonton bola sepak.

Berikut adalah dialog aku & maryam.

Maryam: bagus ek derang ni main, laju.

Aku: (senyum)

Maryam: wah, laju la derang main, attack2 je goal.

Aku: (senyum)

Maryam: cepat betul derang main.. asyik goal je..

Aku: memang la, ni kan highlight, memang la banyak goal..

Maryam: (malu..)

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...

Bola Sepak Lagi: Semi Final II

Ok, so semalam berlangsunglah separuh akhir kedua antara Terengganu vs N.9 dan Perlis v Kelantan.

Perlis v Kelantan ended with 3-1 win for Kelantan. I watched part of it on the TV at kampung. There was one incident when a firecracker was thrown from the perlis supporters' side, which landed right next to a player's head. who was lying on the ground injured. I think he should have gone deaf now. Silly supporters...

Negri finally stepped up to win convincingly in terengganu. 3-1. And Zaquan Adha scored twice. Well, he is good. I just wished that he got the supply the week before and scored more goals at home. From the news that I read, I did not see Idris Karim's name. I assume it was just like the week before, Negri played better when they deployed Hairuddin in the attacking mid position instead of playing up front, and instead of playing that one-legged man.

Well, Hairuddin is good. He is one of the few players I have been watching since he was a schoolboy. Since we were schoolboys

I still remembered going to the U15/U17 tournaments more than 10 years ago, and there are few names that I could still remember.

Anyway, I am thinking of going to Bukit Jalil to watch the final. On the second thought, I may not do so, bearing in mind what happened after the match between these 2 teams earlier this year. Riot, burned cars, bla bla bla. So, I think I'd take the safer bet, safer as in safe from physical harm, by watching from home, hoping that both sides would display the good football they are capable of.

And some N9 may have been pissed off by my earlier remarks. Well, if footballer choose to be professional, they have to deal with being glamour, hence people criticising right and left. Stop being a crybaby. Instead, prove people wrong by performing on the pitch, instead of creating headlines by kahwin lari etc.

I also hope the supporters are more critical. The team can win many games, but if they do not show any technical improvement, supporters should make noise. Ask for more, since we pay to watch them play. If they are unhappy, then tell them to stop playing professional football. Our football has suffered for too long.

Let's hope the final will be a new dawn for malaysian football in terms of quality and performance.