Is FAM serious about Asean Championship Cup?
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) doesn’t seem serious about the Asean Championship Cup.
How else can one explain the perplexing decision to announce on Dec 5, five days before Harimau Malaya played its first match of the tournament, that it was restructuring its coaching set-up?
That decision meant caretaker coach, Pau Marti Vicente, and his panel of coaches would be given the boot – even if they guided the team to the title. Talk about motivation!
FAM and the Malaysian Football League (MFL) also decided that the Super League and Malaysia Cup matches would continue during the tournament, knowing full well that teams are not obligated to release players as the regional tournament falls outside of FIFA’s international calendar.
Several players withdrew from selection, and now, ahead of the crunch match against Thailand in Bangkok tomorrow night, four players from Sabah FC – Dominic Tan, Daniel Ting, Stuart Wilkin, and Darren Lok – have been recalled for the team’s Malaysia Cup quarter-final tie against Kuching on Dec 15.
The least FAM and MFL could have done was postpone the matches for a month to give Harimau Malaya the best chance of success.
Before the Timor Leste game, Penang’s Mohamed Syamer Kutty Abba and Muhammad Adid Abdul Ra’op returned to Penang to play in its Challenge Cup quarter-final tie against Putrajaya Athletic on Dec 10. To add to Vicente’s woes, two players – Syafiq Ahmad and Fergus Tierney – will miss the Thailand game through injury.
After two matches, Harimau Malaya leads Group A with four points after a 2-2 draw with Cambodia and a 3-2 win over Timor Leste. Thailand, meanwhile, hammered Timor Leste 10-0 in its only match thus far to sit second, while Singapore defeated Cambodia 2-1 to lie third.
After a sloppy performance against Timor Leste, Vicente knows the two biggest tests come against Thailand and Singapore on Dec 20.
Only the top two teams from Group A will qualify for the semi-finals. When Malaysia faces Singapore at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, it could be third in the table.
If there is a silver lining, it would be the optimism shown by FAM secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman. Noor Azman was quoted yesterday as saying the national body is still sticking to its target of playing in the final.
All the best, Harimau Malaya!
Main image: FA of Malaysia
