KUALA LUMPUR: The year 2018 was a rather brilliant year for Malaysian football, which saw the Harimau Malaya squad roaring once again, winning the confidence of supporters.
Malaysia began 2018 with a bang, as the Under-23 (U-23) squad, for the very first time, advanced to the quarter-finals of the U-23 Asian Football Confederation Championship which took place in Kunshan, China from Jan 9 to 27, before bowing out 1-2 to Asian giants, South Korea.
The team repeated their commendable performance at the Jakarta-Palembang Games in August, after pulling off a 2-1 shock win against defending champions South Korea in Group E action to advance to the knockout round.
Datuk Ong Kim Swee’s squad, however, fell 0-1 to Japan, and missed the chance of repeating the country’s bronze-medal finish in the 1974 edition of the Games in Tehran, Iran.
Meanwhile, the U-19 squad failed to emulate the success of their elder ‘siblings’, finishing at the bottom of Group D in the U-19 AFC Championship which took place from Oct 18 to Nov 4, with only one point.
Despite hosting the AFC U-16 Championship, the squad led by head coach Lim Teong Kim also ended up at the bottom of the table after losing all three Group A matches, and thus, failing to qualify for the U-17 World Cup in Peru next year.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) responded immediately by firing Lim, while Minister of Youth and Sports, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman further stoked the fire by revealing the former received a tax-free salary of RM175, 000 per month without taxation as Director of Mokhtar Dahari Academy (MDA).
Syed Saddiq said although RM85 million was allocated for the construction of MDA in Gambang, Pahang, the facilities provided did not justify the amount, and that he would bring the issue to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) if any wrongdoing was committed.
Meanwhile, the emergence of young players such as Muhammad Safawi Rasid, 21; Muhammad Akhyar Abdul Rashid, 19; and Muhammad Shahrel Fikri Md Fauzi, 24, also proved that Malaysia was not short in the talent department.
The national squad also advanced to the AFF Suzuki Cup final for the fourth time – the last being in 2014 – after defeating defending champions Thailand 2-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals, but they lost 2-3 on aggregate to Vietnam, going down 0-1 in the second leg in Hanoi, negating a remarkable comeback to make it 2-2 in the first-leg here in Bukit Jalil.
Malaysia’s were ranked 167th in the world as of November, up 11 rungs from 178th recorded in March, -the lowest the Harimau Malaya squad have ever been – a far cry from the early 90s, when they had reached a peak position of 79.
The Malaysian Football Association’s leadership also witnessed winds of change when the Tunku Mahkota Johor (TMJ), Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim resigned as president in March and FAM secretary-general, Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin was appointed as the seventh president in July.
At the domestic level, Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) retained their dominance in the Malaysian League (M-League) winning an unprecedented fifth consecutive Super League title since 2014.
Winning both the Super League and the Sultan Ahmad Shah (Sumbangsih) Cup this season also helped the Southern Tigers grab nine out of 17 awards at the 2018 National Football Awards recently, with winger Muhammad Safawi crowned as the Most Valuable Player.
JDT also made history as the first Malaysian team to qualify for the Asian Champions League (ACL) group stages, among the ranks of clubs such as defending champions Kashima Antlers of Japan, as well as 11-time Iranian league champions, Persepolis FC. – Bernama
