Gearing up for the AFF Cup

K Rajagobal Let's take a look at some of the teams participating in the AFF Cup;

SINGAPORE

Harris Harun is eager to make his mark in the AFF Cup. The midfielder was quoted by Singapore's The New Paper as saying;

"It is a very important tournament because we have a realistic chance of winning it for the fourth time, even though the likes of Vietnam and the Philippines have become stronger."

INDONESIA

Indonesia's coach Nil Maizar is trying out various formations ahead of the AFF Cup.

Nil told Antara news agency; 

“We will still focus on using the 4-4-2 formation. But in anticipation of a lack of players, we’re also trying the 3-5-2 formation.”

THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippines team manager Dan Palami  believes the Azkals, who recently enjoyed training camps in US and the Middle East, are no longer considered as 'underdogs' by the other teams.

Palami told AFF Cup website;  "We caught them by surprise in 2010, but I doubt they will get surprised by us again."

But the Philippines may suffer a setback after it was reported that midfielder Stephan Schrock, who plays for Bundesliga outfit TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, and striker Angel Guirado of India’s Salgaocar will not be released by their clubs.

There are also major doubts about the availability of first choice goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, currently on loan to Bristol Rovers from Fulham, full-back Dennis Cagara of Germany’s Karlsruher SC and midfielder Jerry Lucena, who plays his club football in Denmark for Superliga side Esbjerg fB - as reported here.

MALAYSIA

After two consecutive defeats against Vietnam (1-0) and Thailand (2-0), national coach K.Rajagobal (pic) is feeling the heat.

The former international was even chided by FA of Malaysia deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah for the team's performance ahead of the AFF Cup.

Nevertheless, Rajagobal still has faith in his team and assured fans they will bounce back in their next friendly matches against Hong Kong (Nov 14) and Bangladesh (Nov 20) ahead of the AFF Cup.

Rajagobal told Bernama;

"I do not want to put the pressure on the players but I admit we did not demonstrate the quality of game which I can be proud of in several friendly matches previously."
HD says: Happy Diwali coach Raja.

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 12, 2012 at 1:58 AM

    The problem is not with the players but with the coach.

    The coach is confusing the players with inconsistency in HIS gameplan.

    An obvious example, Mahali played fullback for OKS but he played midfield for Rajagopal.

    "Kita kalah 5-1 dengan Indonesia di peringkat awal tapi akhirnya kita juara AFF 2010."

    Tahniah! Tanya dia, apa perbezaannya antara permainan peringkat kumpulan dan permainan pada separuh akhir selain akhir AFF 2010.

    Can such a thing be duplicated?

    He can fool the minister but he can NOT fool everybody!

    p/s Defeating Hong Kong and Bangladesh means we have rocover from defeats from Vietnam and Thailand? Is this a trick question?

    Kamarul

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousNovember 12, 2012 at 8:54 AM

      N latest result against HM B (team budak2), they only able to get draw...n what RG said its just a training n HM B played really hard as they want to prove something...so, what about abang2 my beloved coach RG? Is it still for experimentation?

      N you also seek for support...dont worry coach, we still give our full support, it is not because of our confident on u, but because we are MALAYSIAN.....

      Kemahkemim..

      Delete
    2. AnonymousNovember 12, 2012 at 10:00 AM

      Another reason for poor performance by the national team is that not all the players selected by King Gopal are the best malaysian players in their respective positions. Bunyamin and Zubir are definitely not the best in their position. Where are Asarudin Putra, Azmi Muslim, Farhan and Piya. I think they should be in the team as well. Farhan is definitely miles ahead of Zaquan!!!

      Pak Nik

      Delete
  2. HSKAMALNovember 12, 2012 at 6:53 AM

    Pressure is related to action and critical thinking in any sports being played. One should have or own to the ability of handling it. The way to proof ones ability in handling the pressure is by showing a good performance and always being above your opponent in the area of skill, tactics and techniques.

    When one is thought in-depth about ones requirement and expectation in the sport of soccer, then pressure is only a small obstacle. Players are supposed to be drilled under pressure during practice. The word pressure should not arise and be in anyway a problem to the players if they are thought and trained right!

    Lets relate the performance of the Malaysian team against Thailand recently related to pressure. Coordination and combination play were seriously lacking, group tactical going forward was so predictable the Thais were comfortable in their defending play. So, is DRG, telling us he missed out in moulding and instilling important issues related to making his players well learned as a soccer player?

    The most important ingredient in whatever we do is having the knowledge and the know-how."Do they have it in them"? or is it a circus with clowns making people laugh and being laughed at.

    The attacking and defending principals must be understood well to overcome whatever resistant during performance. The understanding of the above principals in-depth by the players will give good imaginative power to perform and understand the game or the situation at hand.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 12, 2012 at 11:09 AM

    DRG now is not reliable anymore..all his flip flop in game plan have been exposed espcially in WCQ against Singapore and against Taiwan (away) where as we were easily exposed by opponent. From that Malaysia game start to dip on form...OKS playing better football..one touch quick pass everything that is basic in football shown by OKS team...we need rejuvenation of Malaysia team...Wan Zack Haikal talented but not given enough time by DRG..Piya and Nor Farhan someone that shown very good form in M-League is not been called or even in preliminary squad list...that is because he know his player..Piya yes lack of international experience but how bout farhan..he was with malaysia team before..now he showing very good form but why he havent been call up?why Zaquan that is so-so in his performance(been push as a flanker because cannot compete with two Kuda tua Hai-o and Marlon)been called up?Please Raja we need better player...if we lose this AFF cup i think your time is over

    ReplyDelete
  4. blogrojakNovember 12, 2012 at 10:18 PM

    bro DYTM TMP TIMB PRES FAM ni kalau keluar kenyataan akhbar kritik pasukan kebangsaan boleh kena gantung tak,,tolong highligt isu ni..FAM perlu ada kredibiliti mengenai isu ini...sila rujuk ( http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/Sukan/20121112/su_01/Tengku-Abdullah-tegur-Rajagobal) DYTM TMP TIMB PRES FAM ni pun kejap keluar masuk FAM,elok lah kalau di hadapam ke jawatankuasa tatatertib FAM jika benar bersalah.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousNovember 13, 2012 at 1:33 AM

    Haresh. Happy Diwali.

    Rajagopal. Go fish.

    Kamarul

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousNovember 14, 2012 at 12:50 PM

    sorry, this is off topic. but i need to get some clarification on this matter (if u can give 1).

    is it legally right for PBNJ to change the names of johor fc & johor, to johor & johor FA respectively? coz as far as i know, the name 'johor' itself represents johor FA. seems as PBNJ is using 'jln belakang' to get johor playing in Super League next season (whereas teams like ATM, pahang & sime darby fought it out to be champions & get promoted). & it has to be said that whenever we look at league table, it shows the names of (for example) perak, selangor; not perak FA or slngor FA.

    if this kind of action is legally rite, then KL Felda Utd can change their name to KL; while KL, which will be playing in lower divison next season, can change to KL FA. & in the future, maybe T-Team will be Terengganu, while Terengganu be Tganu FA.

    amar

    ReplyDelete

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