Malaysia 0 Iran 2

Ok ok we all know Malaysia is going to lose, but I can at least say that I'm proud of our performance tonight.

We held strong, played a defensive and safe tactic, unfortunately a penalty was given against us which I feel was unfair, and in the second half, a well deserved goal by Iran.

Iran deserve to win no doubt.

But Malaysia are starting to play like a team again. No one expected them to do anything in this match. Iran being the no.2 team in Asia as far as the rankings go, having players playing in Europe including Ali Karimi from Bayern Munich, having players that has been nominated and some won the 'Asian Player of the year award' it would take more than a miracle to beat a team like that.

Malaysia, lacking in Stature, technique, skills, stamina, ball control and many other important attributes did not lack the fighting spirit. Malaysia should play this sort of football in the previous 2 games.

Anyway, besides the constant goalmouth action in the Malaysian Penalty box, I guess there can be a couple of proud moments for Malaysia in this match. This includes a good run by Aidil, beating 3 Iranian players before making a shot not worth taking. And lets not forget A Shukur Adan shot from probably 30 yards that could have been the goal of the Tournament, but the Iranian keeper kept it out just in time.

Okay, 3 games in the Asian cup, 3 losses. What is next?

This is what Malaysia should do.

Short term:
Change the coach. If a Malaysian isn't qualified, hire a foreigner. There's lot to learn from others right now. I think a good choice for now would be Steve Darby. Give the fella a shot.
Try to stick to one team without making a lot of changes. Everytime I watch Malaysia play in different tournaments, I see different squads. We're still a learning country when it comes to football, not like Brazil, rich with talent and dropping stars is a no problem issue.

Long term:
Build the sport for the future. No point crying about how bad the game is now. Start from school level and do it seriously.

Yes yes I know, Parents only want their kids to study these days.

Adopt the method from the states. Each school should have a football team with good football facilities and players should be sent to competitions and take them seriously. And what the country can do is to offer these students scholarships for maybe local colleges and Universities if they can score an average score in their studies and excel in sports. Then they will play for their colleges and get a free education.

Yes, that is what we need to do. Sports ministers, take note. Same goes for the other sports.

Seriously, in football alone, we really need to step up.