World Cup 2010

World Cup 2010 has been so devastating. Spain, Holland and Germany persevered and are in the Semi-Final while Argentina and Brazil were defeated when the odds were stacked for either one of them to be the first World Cup champion hosted in Africa. Italy was the surprise early exit, while France and England were expected not to progress and had rightly showed their true form when they exactly did that. South Korea and Japan revived their reputation as the power house of Asia when both qualified into the Second Round. However, the referee miscalled of England second goal against Germany and deliberate handball by Suarez of Uruguay's against Ghana were two of the most horrible things that could have happened during this most prestigious event. Definitely this World Cup is full of colour.

I grew up loving soccer with passion. I played soccer socially (not competitively he he) until I was form three. I love the game and it helped me socialise with the boys at school and in my neighbourhood. I played soccer before school, during Physical Education classes, after school, at home on Saturdays and Sundays. We played on the school field, in a rubber plantation near my house (sometimes dribbling the ball in between rubber trees he he) and on dirt roads in front of the housing estate.

Malaysia was one of the soccer power house of Asia in the 70's and 80's. I could still remember in the 70's, Malaysia soccer team qualified for the Munich Olympic 1972 and won third place in the Asia Games 1974. Then in 1980, Malaysia qualified to the Moscow Olympic. I witnessed them all with my own eyes via black and white live telecast. South Korea, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia were then equal to Malaysia in form and power. We used to beat them all.

In mid 1970's, I will make an effort to watch as many of soccer matches at Merdeka Stadium either during the Malaysia Cup, Burnley (Razak under 17) Cup and Merdeka Cup. I will be accompanied by my elder brothers, both of whom had passed away (may Allah bless their soul). They were footballers when they were at school as well. This continued until mid 1990's when Malaysian soccer started to decline due to a massive corruption scandal. Since then I had not stepped into the soccer stadium ever.

So where is Malaysia now? Though we won the SEA Games gold medal recently, we are still nowhere near South Korea and Japan. Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and Myanmar can still beat us anytime. On certain days we can even draw with Laos or Cambodia, and other days may even loss to them.

So what happened? It is about vision, determination, action and fulfillment.

Malaysia has lost its vision in becoming the top team of Asia. The vision is lost not only by the FAM, it is also lost by the players. We have not produced players who can even be selected to play in Europe 2nd or 3rd league. FAM and the players are not determined to build a soccer generation among the Malaysian youngsters. They are quite contented to organize the domestic Premier League, M-League, Malaysia and FA Cup every year. The action that they have taken to progress the game in Malaysia has been haphazard and disoriented. Within the span of thirty years, soccer has not brought us any notable glory beyond this region. There is no fulfillment felt by the people and the soccer fan, more so by the FAM and the players in the Malaysian soccer arena.

What can we learnt by all these? Achieving fulfillment requires a clear vision, strong determination and consistent action. Maradona, the Argentinian coach and a World Cup player said "Latin American soccer will never ever overcome the European soccer, what we can do is to develop our youngsters for them to be skilled in soccer. Let them ply their professional soccer career in European leagues where there are abundant of big monies. When the World Cup turns up, we bring them back and let them play for their country with love and pride". A statement full of vision, determination, action and fulfillment. So what's next Malaysia?