Football / Malaysia Cup: Perak's challenge in disarray

THE love affair between former international Fadzli Saari and the Selangor fans is fast coming to an end.
The 500-odd paying fans vented their anger at Selangor's weak performance by hurling abuse at Fadzli despite the team's 2-0 victory over Police in a Malaysia Cup Group D match at Shah Alam Stadium on Saturday.

"Baik tak payah main," (Better still don't play) was among the abuse fans hurled at the 27-year-old midfielder-cum-striker at half time. Some of it were unprintable.

However, the abuse only inspired Fadzli and he scored a brace in the second half to earn Selangor their first victory in the competition.
Selangor coach K. Devan was upset with the attitude of some of the fans.

"Our fans need to be patient. We are trying our best and this victory is a good start. We need our fans at the stadiums as their support will motivate the players," said Devan at Shah Alam Stadium.

"Fadzli scored both Selangor goals despite a facial injury. He is at least trying to play good football. I believe he will return to his best soon."

On whether Saturday's win was a sign of Selangor's Malaysia Cup resurrection, Devan said his team are not at their near best yet.

"We cannot predict much after just one victory. My players, no doubt, are showing more commitment but they are still far from their best. We need more wins to get back on track.

"We scored only two goals from 16 chances today (Saturday). Like I said before, we do not have strikers but those that I have are doing their best," he said.

Devan, however, admitted he has not found his team's winning line-up.

"The source of our problem is the strike force. I've been trying out defenders and midfielders in attack after Safee (Sali) left. It is tough but my players are beginning to show their mettle," he added.

Selangor continue their Malaysia Cup campaign against high-riding Kuala Lumpur at Selayang Stadium tomorrow.


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Give it your best, Safee

SAFEE Sali has been urged to make full use of the opportunity presented by Cardiff City to become the first Malaysian to break into the English leagues.
Former Malaysian great Datuk Soh Chin Aun and Ho Hon Seong, one of the few Malaysians in the late 1970s and early 1980s to venture abroad, said this rare chance for Safee is a sign of the rising standard of Malaysian players.

"This is a good chance for Safee. It shows that Malaysian football is improving. Although it is only a trial, it is not often a Malaysian player receives this kind of an opportunity.

"This is also a good chance for him on a personal level to show what he can do.
"I hope he puts on a good presentation to show them that Malaysians can also play good football," said Chin Aun, after a press conference to announce the staging of the 1st Malaysia Day Ex-Internationals/States Soccer 9s in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Safee leaves for Cardiff on Monday for a two-week trial with the English Championship side where he will train with the Welsh club's first team in a bid to land a playing contract or a loan move from his current club Pelita Jaya.

There have been a few Malaysians who have blazed the professional trail abroad, including the likes of Wong Choon Wah, Chow Chee Keong, Chan Kok Leong, Yip Chee Kong and Hon Seong, who all played in the Hong Kong professional league 30 years ago.

But the first Malaysian to play in Europe was Lim Teong Kim in 1987 when he joined Hertha Berlin, then in the West German third-tier.

He also had an unsuccessful trial with Austrian club AK Graz in 1990.

Hon Seong, a former striker with Selangor and Kuala Lumpur and occasional left-back, said if Safee is successful, it will be a big challenge for him to adjust to the higher standard of football in England, let alone the environment.

"Up until now, Malaysian players have been afraid of making the move abroad because they are worried over how they will adapt. I think Safee is very brave to be going there but it is a good move for him.

"Even during my time, we only went as far as Hong Kong because nobody from Europe cared to look at us.

"Whether Safee lands a contract or not is beside the point. The most important thing is he makes good use of this opportunity," said Hon Seong, who had an aborted stint with Hong Kong's South China club in 1981 before returning home after four games due to a contractual dispute.

Besides Safee, Selangor's Safiq Rahim also has a pending trial with Cardiff which he will undergo after the Malaysia Cup.

Meanwhile, a veritable who's who of Malaysian football of the past will be featured in the Ex-Internationals/States Soccer 9s organised by the Ex-State and Ex-International Footballers Association of Malaysia at the Victoria Institution ground on Sept 16-17.

Organising committee chairman Bahwandi Hiralal said eight local teams and four teams from Brunei, Singapore, Thailand and Western Australia will be competing in the two-day event held to bring together former footballers from Malaysia and the region whilst also raising funds for the association.

Among the former national players who have been signed up were Subadron Aziz (KL), Jelani Wilastra (Penang), Hassan Sani (Sabah), Salehan Mohamed Som, Nasir Yusof (Johor), Husin Jaafar (Kedah), Azizol Abu Haniffa (Perak), Jalil Ramli (Sarawak) and Chin Aun (Malacca).

Malek Awab, Tay Peng Kee and Abdullah Noor are some of the former stars in the Singapore team.


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Malaysia take slim lead

MALAYSIA inched closer to creating World Cup history in the Asian Zone Qualifiers by edging Taiwan 2-1 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

The national team have never qualified for the second round since making their first appearance in the qualifiers in 1973.

They, however, need to get past Taiwan in the return leg on Sunday to qualify for the second stage, where Singapore await them.

But national coach K. Rajagobal was unhappy with his players' performance, as they played well only in patches.

"We failed to maintain our tempo after taking a 2-0 lead. Our defence allowed Taiwan to hit back with a soft goal. It is going to be tough in the return leg as Taiwan will definitely be more offensive," he said.

Rajagobal also confirmed that Safee Sali will not play in the return leg.

"He (Safee) suffered a hard knock in the first half. I don't think he can recover in time. We face a difficult situation as I will need to reshuffle my strikeforce with Norshahrul (Idlan Talaha) still recovering from injury."

Taiwan coach Lo Chih Tsung warned that his team will be very offensive in the return leg.

"We came here to get an away goal. We have accomplished our mission. Taiwan will play attacking football in the return leg," said Chih Tsung.

Captain Safiq Rahim was Malaysia's hero by scoring a goal and creating another in Bukit Jalil.

The midfielder's powerful strike in the 28th minute was followed up with his near perfect corner kick for Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abd Radzak to score the second in the 54th minute.

Malaysia, who paraded eight players from the AFF Cup winning team, started in furious pace in front of about 45,000 local fans in the stadium.

In the second minute, Malaysia were denied a penalty when Baddrol Bakhtiar, upon a receiving a pass from Safee Sali, was brought down in the Taiwanese box but Thailand referee Mahapab Chaiya waved play on.

The homesters continued to press forward with left flanker S. Kunalan, Baddrol and Safiq, all having decent chances in the opening 20 minutes.

Taiwan held their ground with their well planned game. In the 12th minute, a curling free kick from midfielder Lo Chih An found striker Chang Han, whose close range shot was saved by Malaysia goalkeeper Sharbinee Allawee.

But Malaysia's fortunes changed a minute after Rajagobal made a tactical change by bringing on striker Abdul Hadi Yahya for rightback Helmi Remeli.

Midfielder Amirulhadi Zainal moved into the right back position while Baddrol and Kunalan switched roles in midfield.

Abdul Hadi immediately turned on the heat with a brilliant pass to Kunalan, who in turn set the ball for Safiq at the edge of the penalty box.

Safiq then floated in a powerful shot past Taiwan's keeper Lin Po Cheng for only his second international goal in the 28th minute.

Rajagobal made a surprise move by substituting Safee with Negri Sembilan striker Ahmad Fakri Saraani for the second half.

Safee, who was carrying a leg injury after Tuesday's training session, suffered a hamstring injury in the first half.

But Ahmad Fakri's absence for over two months from competitive matches was felt by the striker when he missed a sitter from close range in the 51st minute.

Safiq turned provider in the 54th minutes when his corner kick found centre-back Aidil Zafuan, who rose above the rest to head home Malaysia's second goal.

Malaysia were heading for a comfortable victory but Taiwan silenced the local fans with an important away goal in the 75th minute. Midfielder Chen Po Liang's grounder just inside the box was enough to beat keeper Sharbinee.

RESULTS -- Asia Zone World Cup Qualifying (1st rd, 1st leg): Cambodia 4 Laos 2, Nepal 2 East Timor 1, Mongolia 1 Myanmar 0, Sri Lanka 1 Philiipines 1, Afghanistan 0 Palestine 2, Bangladesh 3 Pakistan 0, Vietnam 6 Macau 0, Malaysia 2 Taiwan 1.

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Ajitpal Singh and Devinder Singh
nstsport@nstp.com.my

President unopposed

FA of Malaysia president Sultan Ahmad Shah was elected unopposed as the new Asean Football Federation (AFF) president at the AFF Congress held in Bangkok yesterday following the withdrawal of his only opponent.

Thailand's Datuk Worawi Makudi opted not to contest the presidency to allow Sultan Ahmad Shah to succeed outgoing president Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen Tengku Ismail, who had helmed AFF since 1995.

Sultan Ahmad Shah ran on a platform of seeking to unite Asean countries and become a force in international football.

"I come before you as a protagonist of 1Asean, appealing to each one of you to reignite the flames of Asean solidarity and lift this spirit above our own frailities and agendas, and let it soar to heights we have yet to scale," he said in a message to AFF members ahead of the congress.

"Football unites, and this is what I want to do first in AFF. But I cannot do this on my own. I need each and every one of you to pick up the loose ends, and weave them back so tightly that the very fabric that keeps us entwined, will not come asunder again.

"For united we stand, divided we fall. We cannot confront and face our challenges with huge holes or gaps in our armour. We need to stand shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm, with one heart and one mind."

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Football: Devan doing well without Safee

K. DEVAN

SELANGOR coach K. Devan was in a daze when Safee Sali left the club for Pelita Jaya as his game plan for the season was centred around the striker.

Safee's departure meant Devan had to re-organise his team's tactics from scratch in search of the right formula but so far the former Negri Sembilan state player has done well in managing his team to success in the M-League.

Since Safee left, Selangor have stayed unbeaten after a bad start to their season, when they earned only a point from three matches.

Selangor, who are hoping to regain the Super League title and also end their Malaysia Cup drought this season, recorded their six straight win on Tuesday by beating Premier League side Johor 3-1 in the quarter-final first leg of the FA Cup at Shah Alam Stadium.

"Safee's departure was so sudden that I did not have time to re-organise the team. I had to re-shuffle both players and tactics to find the right combination. But things are getting better. My players have settled down quite nicely," said Devan.

On his team's victory over Johor, he said Selangor could have won by a bigger margin if they were sharper upfront.

"We missed a lot of chances, especially in the first half. But we came back strongly in the second half to score three times before we sat back to allow Johor to get a goal. I am not happy with the way my team conceded that goal.

"Johor are a hardworking team and it may not be so easy for us in the return leg on Saturday. We cannot afford to take them lightly," he said

Devan fielded mostly regulars, except for injured striker Fadli Shaari against Johor.

He is also happy that his regular defenders, including Nasriq Baharom -- who featured only for the second time this season upon recovery from an injury on Tuesday, will be available for a hectic April.

"Next month could decide our faith in the Super league as we will be playing nine matches. It is important that I have all my regulars for these matches," Devan added.

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Norshahrul to the rescue

NORSHAHRUL Idlan Talaha popped up with a late goal to salvage a point for Kelantan in a 1-1 draw with Kedah at the Darul Aman Stadium in Alor Star yesterday as the reigning Malaysia Cup champions extended their lead to three points in the Super League.
Kelantan were trailing to an Azlan Ismail goal when Norshahrul shook off two defenders before blasting Nizad Ayub's cross into goal in the 79th minute.

The game seemed to be slipping away from Kelantan when Azlan sent the home crowd into raptures in the 58th minute after stabbing home's Baddrol Bakhtiar a cross behind the static Kelantan defence.

Kelantan had the better of the exchanges in the first half as Nurul Azuan Roya saw his speculative effort strike the bar in the eighth minute but it was all Kedah in the second half while Azmi Muslim will rue a missed opportunity when Khairul Fahmi Che Mat pulled off a fine diving save in the 67th minute.
Terengganu took advantage of playing an away fixture on home ground at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium with a 2-0 win over 10-man Kuala Lumpur.

They could even afford to miss a penalty when Ashaari Samsudin hit the post in the 25th minute and although he slotted in the rebound, the goal was disallowed because no other player had touched the ball.

Ashaari made amends in the 38th minute when he set up Hadi Yahya for Terengganu's opener before netting the second in the 52nd minute after a slalom past three defenders.

KL were reduced to 10 men in the 65th minute when Ahmad Jihad Ismail, who had given away the penalty, was dismissed for his second booking before Yong Kuong Yong headed in a consolation for KL in the 83rd minute.

Premier League leading scorer Bobby Gonzales took his tally to six goals with a brace late in the first half in Sarawak's 5-1 demolition of Pos Malaysia at the Selayang Stadium.

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Pelita Jaya extend Safee a warm welcome

Pelita Jaya’s Safee Sali will make his debut against Persib Bandung on March 7.

SAFEE Sali was given a grand welcome when he was officially unveiled as Pelita Jaya FC's latest signing in Jakarta on Monday.
The 27-year-old signed a one-year deal for an undisclosed sum with the Indonesia Super League (ISL) outfit which was witnessed by the team's bosses and fans.

After the signing ceremony, Safee told the Indonesian press of his hopes to help Pelita make an impact in the second round of the ISL, which starts on March 7.

"It is a dream come true for me as I always wanted to play abroad. I chose Pelita over an offer from Vietnam and also rejected an opportunity to go on trial with a Japanese club because of the competitive nature of the league here," Safee told www.Tempointeraktif.com on Monday.
"The ISL will help me explore my true potential in the presence of foreign players. It is also important that the fans here accept me."

The former Selangor player also hopes that his tenure with Pelita will open new doors for him to play in other foreign leagues.

"My stint here will also help me market myself as the ISL has a strong following in Asia. I hope to one day play in the A-League in Australia," said Safee, who started his professional career with M-League side Kuala Lumpur.

Safee also received offers from ISL clubs Persib Bandung, Persiba Balikpapan and Persisam Samarinda but rejected them. "I have been following Pelita's progress for several years and apart from being a fan, I also like their policy of grooming young players," said Safee, who top-scored in the recent AFF Cup with five goals.

Pelita manager Lalu Mara Satriawangsa said that Safee's presence will definitely improve his team's fortunes in the ISL.

The West Java club currently sit bottom of the 15-team league with 10 points, but there are expectations that their fortunes will change for the better in the second round with Safee being one of their new signings.

Safee is expected to make his debut on March 7 when Pelita host Persib Bandung to kick off the second half of the ISL season.

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