SEA Games: Gold Medal – Fantasy or Reality?

Malaysia v Vietnam

SEA Games Final

Live Broadcast: RTM 2, TV3.

Time: 6.00 pm

1. This is my 1^st real post for the blog. For the past few days, all Malaysians are excited to know that their national team qualified for the Final of SEA Games in Laos. And for the Malaysians, this is the best chance to end a 20 years long-awaited Gold Medal. For me, Malaysia stands a good chance to win the tournament, provided that the players can stay focus throughout the game and of course, the players must ensure that the discipline is bounded within themselves. Now I will briefly explain about the probable line-up of Malaysia for the Final against Vietnam this evening.

2. Goalkeeper:

This is a position that no one of these two goalkeepers, Farizal Marlias or Sharbinee, can say that the spot is his. Farizal is a good goalkeeper as well as Sharbinee. In this SEA Games, at the beginning of the tournament, Farizal is the Malaysia No. 1, but after some indiscipline actions by him, specifically against Vietnam in the group stage, Sharbinee was given some chances. Sharbinee is a good goalkeeper, but if we can judge from the semi final match against Laos, that kind of mistake (fail to save a long range effort) can be very costly to Malaysia. I will definitely go for Farizal for the goalkeeper slot. Farizal is a good goalkeeper and he already shown to Malaysians that he is reliable of making several good saves in the Malaysia v Manchester United friendly earlier this year.

1^st choice: Farizal

3. Centre Backs:

Aidil Zafuan is an automatic choice since he is the captain. Aidil is not a consistent performer and sometimes he even did some silly mistakes, but I guess his experience can be crucial to keep his teammates calm during the match. Another centre back is Muslim Ahmad. Muslim is a good the defender with a great physical strength and he is considerably tall for the players from this region. I predict that Muslim will be a key player for this match by keeping his goal saves against the Vietnamese.

1^st choice: Aidil and Muslim

4. Right and Left Backs:

Nasriq is a good choice. Physically good and has vast experience in playing in Super League in Malaysia, he is a good option for Rajagobal for this match. However, I have some thoughts about these positions (RB and LB). In semi final, Nasriq played as a RB and Sabre Abu as a LB (even though he is right footed player). These kept out another two excellent side backs, Asraruddin Putra (a player who caught an attention to PSV Eindhoven to offer him a place for training) and Azmi Muslim who both did well when brought on against Laos. While Sabre is for me an automatic selection, I think that Asraruddin should be given a chance because he is so good on the left side, and he in fact is a left footed player. Sabre is an automatic selection for me because he is versatile, can play on both flanks and also centre midfielder role.

1^st choice: RB: Sabre LB: Asra

2^nd choice: RB: Nasriq LB: Sabre

3^rd choice: RB: Nasriq LB: Asra as there is possibility that Sabre will play midfield

5. Midfielders

I will go for Gurusamy and Safiq Rahim. Gurusamy is a good player to cut off the Vietnamese passes as he shown in the recent matches while Safiq is an asset for the team in midfield. Sabre may get his chance in midfield too because as I said before Sabre is a versatile player that can play in defensive midfielder role efficiently as what he has done for Kedah in the domestic league. If Sabre is about to play, Gurusamy will definitely be on the bench because a team does not need two defensive-minded midfielders unless they want to play defensively.

1^st choice: Guru and Safiq because I believe that Sabre will play as a full back

2^nd choice: Sabre and Safiq

6. Wingers:

Amirulhadi is back in the team after suspension. He easily outclasses Kunanlan, the right winger for Malaysia in semi final. Kunanlan is good while dribbling but he does not have any vision or good passing. Amirulhadi will be a key player for Malaysia too for tonight. The left winger, I cannot question Rajagobal about Baddrol Bakhtiar selection because he is so good in the position and in fact I already watched this player several times in the domestic league on TV. Badrrol is an asset and he is capable of changing the match in a blink of eye. He is not a consistent performer, not good for the whole 90 minutes but at his best-10-seconds-moment, he can turn the game in flash.

1^st choice: Amirulhadi and Baddrol

7. Strikers:

Norshahrul is the best striker in the squad for now. He is an automatic choice. He is an example of a consistent performer, for the whole 90 minutes he will do whatever he can with a massive stamina and great physical condition. Another slot is between Zaquan Adha and Fakri Saarani. I did not like Zaquan recently due to his lack of discipline behavior but I must admit that he is a good striker with a good record of scoring in domestic league. Fakri is the same but he is not as quick as Zaquan, but he has a more clinical finishing in front of goal compared to Zaquan. Norshahrul and Zaquan will start, but Fakri at some points of the game he may be brought on.

1^st choice: Norshahrul and Zaquan

2^nd choice: Norshahrul and Fakri

8. My 1^st choice:

Farizal

Sabre Aidil Muslim Asraruddin

Amirulhadi Safiq Gurusamy Baddrol

Zaquan Norshahrul

9. What Malaysia players need to do:

• Stay focus throughout the game. In case we lead, put more pressure on Vietnam, not to back off like what we did before. If they scored 1^st, inspire each other, not blaming anyone.
• Long passes should be done logically – definitely when the players think that the player to receive the ball is in better physical condition – e.g. Stronger, Taller and Quicker than his opponent.
• Stay disciplined. This is not a game for revenge. This is final!
• No silly or stupid mistakes.
• Play quick as this is modern football.
• Identify their weaknesses early in the game and make use of them.

10. Good luck Malaysia.

We will win by 2-0, insyaAllah.

Terima kasih / Thank you,

Roy

lovefootball1988@gmail.com