Foul!

"We need to rethink our participation in the S-League next season. "I will suggest to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) that we carefully consider this and instead go to either Slovakia or Brazil." Those were the words of Harimau Muda coach Ong Kim Swee ( pic ) at seen in Singapore's TODAY . I remember writing about the pros and cons of our youngsters participating in the S-League on June 29, 2011 as seen here . Sadly, my sole reason of starting this blog - for it to be an archive of all my stories - has taken a backseat for the urls linking to my old articles in The Malay Mail are "missing". But I do remember saying our team will be "exposed", adding the Singaporeans will learn more from us than we would from them. And slight over a year later, it has turned into a reality. No disrespect to the teams playing in the S-League but our Harimau Muda lads need a bigger platform and a different environment to push themselves ...

As published in Mailsport. The Harimau Muda lads finally completed their pre-Olympic campaign. Having lost 3-0 to Syria on Wednesday en route to finishing at the bottom of Group C in the third round of the Asian qualifiers, the performance of the youngsters received mixed reaction from fans and observers alike. Man-of-the-Match Mardek Mardkian scored a brace and later assisted teammate Al Suma to score the third goal for the Syrians. National defender Fadhli Shas, meanwhile, was sent off for a questionable challenge forcing Malaysia to play with 10 men. There are those who credited the team, saying it has been awhile since Malaysia actually made it to the final rounds of the qualifiers. The nation have only qualified for the Olympics on two occasions — the 1972 Munich and 1980 Moscow Games. However, Malaysia boycotted the 1980 edition after Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Nevertheless, Harimau Muda A coach Ong Kim Swee and his lads have received brickbats from certain quarters. Not n...

UPDATE 9.15pm: Syria 3 Malaysia 0 ---- It is the final Group match of the Olympic qualifiers (kick off 7.00pm Malaysian time). Syria may have internal unrest in its country forcing them to host the Malaysians in Jordan but look set of nailing another three points and threatening leaders Japan. For the Malaysians, it is all about an opportunity to play with a rather formidable Middle Eastern team. Bluntly put, the match has no significance for the Malaysians as we sit at the bottom of the Group with no points. On one hand, one can credit Ong Kim Swee's lads for reaching this far in the tournament. They also produced a gritty performance against some of the best teams in the region. On the other hand, do we celebrate mediocrity for we know our boys can perform better? The Star's Eric Samuel took a direct swipe by saying Malaysian football cannot make it at Asian level. NST's Ajitpal Singh wrote Malaysia is playing for pride . Meanwhile, Mahali Jasuli regrets he is not with ...

The picture appeared in an English paper on Tuesday (Jan 31, 2012). The photographer did a neat job. Those in the picture looked good and those adidas adizero f50 boots, cun! But hold on a second.... The picture caption states Harimau Muda team. And you can see Ong Kim Swee standing at the back row. Aren't the national team sponsored by Nike? Read Nike's and adidas' reactions in today's Mailsport . HD says: Yikes....