Watch Faiz Subri super goal!

It's Tuesday. It's the second matchday of Malaysia Super League. Faiz Subri is getting ready to take his free-kick. The Penang fans in Bandaraya Stadium are waiting eagerly. He has scored the first goal and his team are currently 2-0 up against Pahang. Once the ref blew the whistle, he kick the ball which went straight to the left hand side of the Pahang goalpost. The ball seemed easy to handle by the goalkeeper. But then something unimaginable happened. The ball suddenly swing to the right side of the goalpost and the ball went straight in.

Nasril Nourdin who was supposed to catch the ball, dumbfounded. He knees on the ground, as if he is saying "What did I just saw?" Faiz celebrates. His teammate celebrate the goal with him. Penang fans went nuts. It was a great goal indeed. The news of the goal spread around the world and Faiz became instantly popular. That goal made him famous, with large amount of media outlet around the world trying to interview him and Penang wanted to auction his kit that was worn on that day. There are lot's of talks about him winning the Puskas award.

Faiz is a very low profile footballer who is having such a very average career. After he spent four years with Kedah youth team, he moved to a new team every year. Perlis, T-Team, Kelantan and Terengganu before he moved down to second division and signed with Penang. From then on, he became an integral part for the Northern Malaysian side. He was largely unknown until he scored this goal. That goal changed everything. If not Puskas Award, his goal could definitely won the goal of the month and goal of the season. It will be a legendary goal for years to come.


                  

MPL Match day 2: The conquest of UiTM and KL continues

Photo: Official photo NSTP

Five out of six matches were played in the second matchday of Malaysia Premier League on Monday with the biggest shock came from Sabah who were beaten 4-1 by Kuantan FA. Perlis also fell short after losing 1-0 at home to UiTM despite trashing ATM 6-1 last week.

Kuantan 4-1 Sabah

Sabah took an early through Maxsius Musa in the 38 minute and lead the game until the end of the first half. It wasn't until 20 minutes into the second half that the home side begin their incredible comeback. Dao Bakary equalised through a penalty in 66 minute. For 20 minutes, both team have a hard time trying to find the winner. But then magic happens. In 6 minutes, Kuantan scored 3 goals through Malik Mat Ariff, Wafiy Abdul Ghafar and again by Dao Bakary. It was a great win for Kuantan but a big, big problem for Sabah especially their head coach Vjeran Simunic who aim for promotion this season after failed miserably last season.

Perlis 0-1 UiTM

Perlis are favourites to win the game after recording an emphatic 6-1 win over ATM but were shocked by an early goal by Pavel Purishkin in the 28 minute. The home side trying to get back into the game with two goals disallowed by the referee for offside. A sturdy defence as well as amazing goalkeeping from Pavel Matiash means UiTM took all 3 points away from home. The win also means UiTM is currently top of the league, winning two games and lose none. It's a great start for Raja Isa, who returned after spending for 8 years coaching in Indonesia.

HIGHLIGHT PERLIS FA VS UITM FC
Very good performance from the lions!!
Posted by UITM FC on Monday, 15 February 2016

KL 1-0 JDTII

KL continued their fine form under Ismail Zakaria in the league as they beat JDTII 1-0 through a penalty from Leo Carioca after Zhafri Yahya was brought down by JDTII goalkeeper Fazli Paat in the 66 minute. The win saw them moved second in the standing, sharing the same point with league leaders UiTM FC. Their next game will be in the second round of FA Cup against Malacca.

Malacca 2-1 PKNS

Malacca took an early lead through former Pahang player, R. Surendran who scored with a weak shot in the 21 minute. But PKNS pegged back through Juan Manuel Cobelli in the 50th minute. Nurshamil Abdul Ghani became the hero once again as he scored the winner in the 72 minute, as they moved to fifth place, levelled on point with Kuantan and Negeri Sembilan.

DRB-Hicom 1-3 Negeri Sembilan

This game provide another fairytale. DRB took the lead through Ivan Babic who took the chance of Negeri Sembilan lapse of concentration in the 20th minute. Negeri Sembilan almost scored the equaliser twice but were cleared off the line by the defence in the first half as well as the second half. The away side also have another clear-cut chance but the ball hit the side-netting. Negeri finally found the equaliser through a penalty from Andrew Nabbout in the 80 minute. Three minutes later, Joel Chianese found the net as he converted a cross from the right side to make it 2-1. Alex Smith rounded off the game, picking up a brilliant back pass, rounds off the keeper before scoring with a simple finish in the 89th minute.

15-2-2016 : HIGHTLIGHTS DRB HICOM 1 - 3 NEGERI SEMBILAN
Posted by Persatuan Bolasepak Negeri Sembilan - RASMI on Monday, 15 February 2016

A game between Sime Darby and ATM will be played today.

MSL 2016 match day 1: Between the hype and reality

Photo: Official photo Bharian

Malaysian fans were promised six live MSL matches this season. With the highest quality. Yesterday, there were only two live matches on Media Prima channel, TV3 and TV9. The quality of the production is, shocking. So was the quality of the games. The broadcast live caused some pain in the eyes. The pitch is pixelated. The quality level is probably lower than 240p (a reference to a quality of Youtube video), it is just horrifying. To add more pain, the performance of the team is just rubbish. There is just too many misplaced passes, bad crosses, lack of clear-cut chances and a very poor, poor finishing. As if they are not ready to play a competitive game at all. Hope to see an improvement from both TV production team as well as the team performance in the next few weeks.

I did that because I love you, JDT.

JDT 1-1 Selangor (JDT won the Piala Sumbangsih 7-6 on penalties)

JDT and Selangor struggled to break the defence. Their attackers were running out of idea. Both team had to score through set-pieces. JDT scored through Harris Harun who headed the ball from Safiq Rahim's free-kick just before the half-time. JDT dominated the game and there's almost no room for Selangor to attack but handed a set-back as Hafiz scored with a stunning free-kick that went straight to the right side of the net to make it 1-1. The match can only be decided through penalty shoot-out. There are times when JDT have the upper hand, with Olivi and Gopi missed their penalties and there are times Selangor have the chances, with Diaz and Azamuddin missed it. The longer this went on, the higher the pressure will be on for the penalty taker. In the end, it was Azrif Nasrulhaq, who allegedly has signed for JDT without the consent of his team, and even professes his love to play for JDT, missed his penalty, ultimately handed the Piala Sumbangsih to JDT. It was such an unexpected and extraordinary ending to the game.

Do you want to make Qu Puteh trademark as your default face? Click Yes.

Perak 0-0 Kelantan

Let's see, the most entertaining thing in this game is none other than Dato Seri Vida sitting on the bench alongside an uncomfortable Kelantan coaching staff. Photos of her smiling and doing a Qu Puteh trademark circulating in the social media like a wildfire, prompting funny memes and critical response from the fans. The game is a forgettable one, as it is probably one of the worst opening MSL game of all time. Very few goalmouth actions as both team struggle to break the opposition defence. Perak have a fair chance to win the game through Erick Weeks and Vokhid Shodiev, but too often missed the golden chance when presented to them. While Kelantan can only cut the defence through Dramane Traore while others unable to spark anything in the game. It proved how Kelantan missed the presence of their captain marvel, Piya, which is the brain and the creator of the goal for his team. Devan need to put Piya back to the team in the upcoming game or else he will be in trouble.

Terengganu 1-0 Penang

In front of huge crowd in Kuala Terengganu, Gustavo Lopez's goal proved to be the winner as the recently promoted side Penang unable to find the ultimate equaliser until the end of the game, meaning that The Turtles picked up the first 3 points of the season.

Felda United 2-0 Kedah

Kedah is a strong favourites to win the game but struggled playing on an artificial pitch, different for The Fighters who have presumably adapted well with their new home. As a result, Felda took an early lead through new signing Lutfulla Turaev with a stunning goal from the edge of the box and added another goal through a penalty from Zah Rahan Krangar.

PDRM 1-0 Sarawak

Sarawak is brimming with confidence coming into this game, with new coach K. Rajagobal, as well as several new signings such as K. Gurusamy, Juninho, Gilmar and Ndumba Makeche but were left hard done in the end as they beaten by weakened PDRM side who won with a solitary goal by Ali Ashfaq after a brilliant flick from his teammate found Ali who sent the goalkeeper to the wrong way.

Pahang 2-2 T-Team (TFC II)

It's fair to say that both team begin the season as a brand new team. Almost all of Pahang key players left the team, with only several players staying such as Matthew Davis, D. Saarvindran and Zesh Rehman. While T-Team came as a newly promoted side through a play-off ticket strengthened by new coach Rahmad Darmawan and several new signings such as Ramzul Zahini Adenan, Makan Konate and Abdoulaye Maiga. The Elephant Army took an early lead through Dalibor Volas who took the chance to score when T-Team defenders failed to clear the ball away. Minutes later, the bad boy Saiful Nizam Miswan or popularly known as Poyeng was sent off after committing two bookable offence as Pahang down to 10 men. Having the numerical advantage, T-Team used most of their chances as they equalised through Safawi Rashid in the 71 minute. T-Team added Pahang misery as they scored another goal through Izzaq Faris Ramlan who came off the bench to finish off the counter-attack as Nasril Nourdin completely left his goalpost and unable to prevent Izzaq from scoring in the 88 minute. Is that a winning goal? (a reference to FM commentary). To T-Team surprise, new signing German Pacheco scored a brilliant free-kick from way outside of the penalty box to make it 2-2, thus making sure that they are picking up a point in the first matchday of the season.

MPL: Perlis and UiTM excel in the first match of 2016

Photo: Official NSTP

It's the very first match day of the season and six matches were played yesterday. Broadcast live matches, as promised last year, did not happened. It's a silent coverage like many seasons ago. The highlights is only available at 1pm lunch-time news on RTM and TV3. Some were outraged, some were so used to it that attending MPL games at stadium is no big deal. Oh well.

Sabah are the favourites against UiTM but they were left speechless as the university side trounced The Rhinos 4-1, massively contributed by the debut hat-trick from Pavel Purishkin.

Perlis debut season ended in a glorious victory as they trashed the depleted side ATM 6-1 at Kangar Stadium, scored by Obinna Nwaneri, a brace from Kayne Vincent, Alafi Mahmud, Afif Amiruddin and Sadam Hashim.

Meanwhile, JDTII were surprised at home by the incisive away team DRB-Hicom who swept aside the Southern Tiger 3-1 scored by Nazri Kamal, Ivan Babic, and Kim Jin Ryong.

KL also begin their season on a positive note as they beat PKNS 1-0, a solitary goal from Casagrande despite playing at Stadium Hang Jebat, a stadium located more than 100km away from KL.

Melaka scored the last-gasp equaliser in the injury time through Nurshamil Ghani to draw 2-2 against the recently relegated side Sime Darby.

Negeri Sembilan shared the spoils with Kuantan as they draw 1-1 at Paroi.

Kelantan unveil brand new pink kit for 2016

Kelantan unveil four new kits ahead of the new 2016 season in the launching ceremony at Kelantan Trade Centre, Kota Bharu today.

Designed by the main sponsor Dato Seri Vida, the DSV brand boast pink colour as a home and away kit, with another home kit is in red while another away kit is in blue.

Sponsors as seen on the kit are Vida Beauty, Pamoga Qu Puteh, Millenia and Cengal Jati.

Photo: Official photo by TRWFC

Photo: Official photo by TRWFC

Kedah announced the new kit for 2016

Newly promoted MSL team, Kedah has announced their new kit ahead of the Malaysia Super League 2016 season today.

Warrix maximised the yellow colour for the home kit, from the shirt, short to the sock along with the colour of green. Meanwhile Kedah chose a dark green and yellow to be featured as an away kit. Third kit is the most special of all, designed with a collar shirt and mixed with white, yellow and green colour on the kit.

Photo: Official photo by Kedah FA

Home kit

Away kit

Third kit

Not to mention, a two goalkeeper kit featuring black kit and blue kit.

Watch the promotional video by Kedah FA:

KIT JERSEY KFA 2016
Pelancaran Kit Rasmi Skuad Liga Super Kedah Musim 2016!PULUN KEDAH PULUN!Kit HOME (kuning), AWAY (hijau) dan THIRD (putih) skuad hijaukuning mewarnai saingan Liga Malaysia musim 2016.Masa untuk menuai. Jelapang padi tanah tumpahnya darahku.KEDAH FA 2016. BIAR JASA JADI KENANGAN.*Tala bunyi pembesar suara anda ke tahap maksimum dan tonton dalam HD.#warrix #waytowin #kedahfa #pulunkedahpulun #playwithheart #biarjasajadikenangan #homejersey #awayjersey #thirdjersey #kitlaunching #mediakfa #langmerah
Posted by Kedah FA - Persatuan Bolasepak Kedah - on Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Terengganu revealed new kits for 2016 season

Terengganu FA has revealed their new kit ahead of the Malaysia Super League season in a launching ceremony at Pantai Batu Buruk, yesterday.

Designed by local brand Kobert, the home kit features the traditional white and black, while away kit features black and yellow.

Home kit   Photo: Official photo Terengganu FA

Away kit      Photo: Official photo Terengganu FA

Watch the promotional video from TFATV:

Malaysian football hit by the scandal of 4.47 million unpaid salary and double contracts

Photo: Official photo from The Malaysian Insider

Professional Footballers Association of Malaysia (PFAM) has revealed on Tuesday that three teams from Malaysia Super League last season have yet to pay the salaries of 21 players with RM 4.47 million in total.

ATM, Kelantan and Felda United are the three teams that have yet to settle the debt.

Two MSL outfits, Kelantan owe RM477, 000 to five of their former players, while Felda United have yet to pay RM222, 000 to their former player Azrul Ahmad.

But the recently-relegated ATM, is the biggest devil of all, owing RM3.7 million to 15 of their former players. What is more surprising is that, the players have two different contracts signed with the team. One contract is approved by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), while another contract is a contract between the players and the management.

The official contract is said to be in lower amount of wages while another contract is a much higher amount of wages. Since FAM only acknowledge the official contract, ATM looked like as if they only have yet to pay the players for a month, when in fact they have yet to pay for the unofficial contract for 6 months. PFAM also suggested that the unofficial contract exist so they could pay less on income tax, EPF and Socso. In extreme cases, they could be charged in court and can end up in jail.

Kelantan have been unable to pay for their players up to four months since last year, but the arrival of Dato Seri Vida means that they finally managed to pay all of their players, except for the five players who left the team this year. In addition, they have yet to pay their former player, Obinna Nwaneri, since he left the team a year ago.

Felda United owe a huge sum of RM222, 000 to former player Azrul Ahmad since they terminate his contract a year earlier, meaning that they have to pay for the compensations as well.

If the unpaid salary have yet to settle within the given time, Kelantan, ATM and Felda might face a three to six-point deduction, or worse, demoted to the lower league.

Sarawak brand new kit for 2016

Sarawak FA has launched a brand new kit for the Malaysia Super League 2016 that was held on Saturday at CityOne Megamall, in Kuching, Sarawak.

Designed by Starsport, a local sportswear brand based in Kuching, the home kit boast red in colour, while the away outfit resembles PSG kit but with a neon yellow as a main colour, and the third kit is in black, featuring a tribal design across the kit. Not to mention three goalkeeper kits which is in white, blue and yellow.

The Crocs' main sponsor is Marina ParkCity, a member of Perdana Parkcity Group comprising Pantai Bayu Sdn Bhd - a Miri based company, Perdana Parkcity Sdn Bhd - KL based company and Pelita Holdings Sdn Bhd - Sarawak state owned company. Besides that, they were sponsored by Sacofa - a telecommunication infrastructure providers in Sarawak, Ta Ann Group - a resourse-based company, as well as Shin Yang Corporation -a shipbuilding company and Ibraco Berhad - a construction company.

Photo: Official photo from Sarawakcrocs

Watch the promotional video:

Video PromoSarawak FA 2016 Home Kit
Posted by Dunia Sukan Online on Saturday, 6 February 2016

Syahrul Azwari: Untangling The Football Love Triangle

Former Harimau Muda player, Syahrul Azwari is set to finally move to Sarawak in an official transfer this season.

The decision was made after both Kelantan Football Association (KAFA) and Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) reached an agreement regarding the status of the player on Thursday.

This has put an end towards Syahrul's controversial move to Sarawak on 19 December 2015 as he was introduced as a Sarawak player without the consent of his parent team.

According to Article 22 of Malaysian footballer's transfer status made by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), Harimau Muda player must return to his previous team which is their last footballing activity.

In the case of Syahrul, since his last footballing activity is in school level, he will have to return to his state team, Kelantan FA, where he begin his career as a footballer.

As the days go by, fans expected Syahrul to join Kelantan for the new season, only to be shocked by the news of Syahrul signing a two-year contract with the Borneo side, Sarawak FA.

KAFA was heavily criticised by the fans for being too slow to respond and has shown a lack of interest in signing Syahrul Azwari who ended up joining the Crocs.

However, Tan Sri Annuar Musa was furious with the news and blamed FAM for letting it happened. He insisted that FAS must negotiate with KAFA if they are interested to sign Syahrul.

Later on, he brought up the case to FAM Status Committee in the hopes of settling the matters but FAS refused to deal with KAFA.

Secretary General of FAS, Abdullah Julaihi argued that FAS offered Syahrul a contract after he went to Kota Bharu to discussed terms with Kelantan. Two weeks later, Syahrul called FAS to confirm that KAFA did not offer him any contract which means he can begin a contract talks with any other team. FAS assumed that Syahrul has completed his duty, reporting his presence to KAFA, and that he is no longer attached to Kelantan.

FAS are fully aware that they can submit an appeal to FAM but worried that the decision might take longer than they expected and they might unable to register Syahrul on time, affecting the player's career as a result, something that FAS wanted to avoid all this time.

Finally, on 29 January, FAM ordered Syahrul Azwari to return to Kelantan and his contract with Sarawak is null and void. FAS were given seven days to negotiate with KAFA to sign Syahrul, this time legally.

Several days later, while FAS said that they are still discussing terms and conditions with KAFA, but it has been confirmed that Syahrul will join them officially this year. It's a happy ending indeed.

To this date, Syahrul moving to Sarawak is a major surprise. After all he is a huge prospect and has always considered to be the future of Kelantan in years to come. Yet, he snubbed his own birthplace, his own beloved state birth, to join the unlikeliest team of all, Sarawak.

There are several suggestions on why he wanted to join Sarawak that badly. FAM, late payments and lack of playing time are one of the most popular reason among the fans. While it's easy to blame FAM and late payments is understandable, worrying about lack of playing time has raised some eyebrows.

Nik Shahrul Azim was a captain of the Kelantan President Cup team. He was excelled with the youth side and was promoted by Bojan Hodak in 2013. He was criticised in the first few games by the fans and his future is uncertain. Three years later, he is the key player for the senior side.

On the other hand, there was Faizol Nazlin Sayuti who was also a captain of the Kelantan President Cup team, replacing Nik. Many tipped him to be the next big thing. He even trained with Championship side Blackburn alongside the then Kelantan import, Dimitri Petratos. During his debut season in 2014 and 2015, he received the same reaction as Nik did. Three years later, he is on loan at MOF FC, playing under former Kelantan head coach, Zahasmi Ismail.

Another former President Cup player, Tuan Faim, has yet to impress the fans until today. He was a wonderful player in President Cup team but at the highest level, he is struggling. Whether he can reach the MSL level, remain to be seen. On the other hand, Khairul Izuan Rosli is nothing short of a revelation. When George Boateng is scratching his head as his Kelantan side is struggling to score and in need of a decent finisher, Khairul Izuan appeared out of nowhere and scored a fine goal. He is now a fan favourite.

The list of players mention earlier suggested that the future of the footballer is in the hands of the player itself. If you perform well, you will get picked and play regularly. If you played poorly for so many times, of course you won't get as many playing time as you would have liked. As simple as that. Bear in mind, back then no one expect players like Nik and Khairul Izuan to play regularly. Are they playing regularly now? Yes, they are.

The argument about FAM is another thing. Many has branded the Article 22 as unfair to the players and they should be allowed to play for any team they want. If the regulation is not in place, such controversies will not happened in the first place. While that might sounds true, the regulations has been agreed among state FAs upon the launching of Harimau Muda seven to eight years ago.

State FAs have agreed to release their players to Harimau Muda in order to develop further as a player, and as a reward, the players will return to their previous state FAs upon the expiry of their contract with Harimau Muda as well as receiving a compensation fees from FAM. The regulations help the state FAs team to grow as a team, as well as protecting players from ill advise and poor guidance. Many didn't realized if such regulations didn't exist, teams that have the ability to offer more money have the advantage to sign all the players with high salaries but without paying a single penny for a transfer fees. The team can offer the player as many as they want, but the player has the power to choose.

Fans and media alike has also ostracised Annuar Musa for forcing Syahrul to return and play for Kelantan. The word 'forcing' is misleading. Annuar or any other ordinary fans knows that Syahrul did not want to play for Kelantan. All he wants is an explanation from Syahrul and FAS. All he wants is a proper negotiation. If FAS wanted to sign Syahrul, talk to KAFA. Sort it out like any other clubs in the world signing a player from another club. Is that even difficult?

This controversies, alongside the case of Azrif Nasrulhaq means Malaysian football have a deeper problem than anything else. The disbandment of Harimau Muda may have ended such controversies from happening again, but many will doubt that this is not going to happen again in the future. While a proper transfer system might not exactly ended the problem since many improper conduct has continuously occurred despite the presence of the rules and regulations in transfer system, an introduction to a transfer bid and a transfer fee will definitely drive Malaysian football towards the kind of professionalism that is desirable by many all this time.

Selangor unveil new kit for MSL 2016

Selangor have unveil new kit ahead of Malaysia Super League 2016 season that is due to kick-off in one week time. The launching of the new kit that features home kit, away kit and the third kit was presented in front of the fans at SACC Mall in Shah Alam today.

The home kit design in red was inspired by Selangor team of 1983 while away kit is in yellow and the third kit is in green.

Watch the official video:

Video Rasmi Selangor FA 2016 - LottoPerasan Tak Dengan Warna Merah Kuning Di Tiang Struktur Stadium ?
Posted by SELANGOR FC. on Friday, 5 February 2016

JDT denied Champions League football by Muang Thong United

Photo: Official Muang Thong United website mtutd.tv

Johor Darul Takzim FC (JDT) eliminated by Muang Thong United 3-0 on penalty shoot-out after battling for 120 minutes in the second round of AFC Champions League play-off at SCG Stadium, Nonthaburi, Thailand yesterday.

Both sides struggled to create chances early in the first half as they unable to break through the defence.

However, as the game progressed in the 30th minute, Muang Thong managed to find the space through the JDT defence, especially through the flank, but left undone by a weak finishing.

JDT have considerable amount of chances as well, especially a piledriver from Mahalli Jasuli, but his shot missed only inches away.

The game changed completely in the second half as both team have a wide number of chances to score, Muangthong through Negrao, Cleiton and Sarach Yooyen, while JDT have chances through Diaz and Safiq Rahim but all of them have blown their chances away, forcing the game to go through extra time. The only bright thing is Farizal Marlias, who has been busy, saving numerous shot from Muangthong players, becoming a real saviour for his team.

As the extra time went on, the game begin to slow down, with majority of the players low on stamina, cramped and exhausted.

Despite fighting through the end, trying to get the golden goal, they have to settle it with a penalty shoot-out.

JDT's confidence continue to rise, as they did not expect to hang on to Muangthong until the end of extra time and they still have a chance to qualify for the third round. The dream has yet to over.

But it's all starting to go wrong when Diaz, one of the most revered player by JDT fans, kicked the ball to the left but was saved by Kawin.

As Muangthong scored the first goal, Marcos Antonio focused on equalising the goal for his team. But his shot was saved, again by Kawin.

The pressure is high among JDT players as Muangthong scored again to make it 2-0. It's all up to Hariss Harun to change the tides.

His shot, was well saved, again by the mighty Kawin. Three times in a row. Muangthong United have no problem scoring the third, and with that, JDT were eliminated.

While it's all over for JDT in AFC CL this year, they will return in AFC Cup, but this time as a defending champions and their quest this time is to defend the trophy.

Harimau Malaya in memory

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) have announced that the nickname of the Malaysia national football team, Harimau Malaya will be known as Harimau Malaysia starting 2016 onwards.

There are plenty of history on the name of Harimau Malaya.

Malaysia national team gained the nickname Harimau Malaya after the Malaysian legendary striker of 1940s and 1950s, Dollah Don who scored three goals for Melayu Singapore team after 3-0 down against Indonesian side, Peseja. President of Indonesia, Sukarno at the time was so impressed with Dollah's performance that he begin calling Dollah, 'Harimau Malaya'. The nickname might came from the fact that Harimau Malaya is a well-known tiger in Southeast Asia. FAM soon adopted the nickname for the national team until the present day.

Since independence, Malaya has changed the name to Federation of Malaya until 1963 when the government has decided to form Malaysia that will represent Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak which the name has remain strong until today.

In 2004, when the name Harimau Malaya became official, it became highly controversial among the Malaysian association zoos as they argued it should be name panthera tigris malayensis to reflect the origin of the animal but after much negotiations, researchers of The World Conservation Union has decided to name the tiger panthera tigris jacksoni, to honour the tiger conservationist, Peter Jackson who has dedicated his life on promoting tiger conservation.

Besides that, General of Imperial Japanese Army, Tomoyuki Yamashita has also earned the nickname Tiger of Malaya after incredibly conquered Malaya and Singapore in just 70 days.

In recent years though, many have been critical with the nickname, citing that the nickname did not fully represent the whole country, as Malaya only represents the Peninsular (Semenanjung in Malay) with Sabahan and Sarawakian felt that their presence were completely ignored and they felt that the participation of the players such as James Wong and Hassan Sani were completely under-appreciated.

The President of FAM, Tengku Abdullah argued that the word Malaya no longer used by the country since 1963, and he wanted Sabah and Sarawak to feel that the national team belongs to them too.

Minister of Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin has addressed the issue last year and said that the name Harimau Malaya sounds like Sabah and Sarawak have not involved in the development of the national team at all.

Harimau Malaya has always been the identity of Malaysian football, and that identity has been cherished for such a long time by Malaysian society. In football, when the name changed, identity changed. When identity changed, it feels like they have lost something. Something precious.

This is Harimau Malaya that won Merdeka Cup, SEA Games, AFF Suzuki Cup. This is Harimau Malaya that participated in Munich Olympic 1972, Asian Cup 1976 and 1980 and qualified for Moscow Olympic 1980.

This is Harimau Malaya that were represented by so many great players such as Abdul Ghani Minhat, R.Arumugam, Chow Chee Keong, Wong Kam Fook, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, Peter Rajah, Wong Choon Wah, James Wong, Hassan Sani, Mokhtar Dahari-just to name a few.

Is the nickname Harimau Malaya for a football team really a big deal for you? If it's really a big deal, I'm sorry, Malaysia still have a long way to go. But if the nickname Harimau Malaysia makes you feel better, then fine. So be it.

Selamat tinggal Harimau Malaya.

Harimau Malaya
The nickname of Malaysia national football team.
(1950-2016)

T-Team secured place in MSL 2016

PHOTO: Official Facebook T-Team FC

T-Team secured the final place in Malaysia Super League as they beat ATM in a narrow 2-1 win of the MSL play-off at Stadium Perak in Ipoh on Saturday.

The Titans have no trouble in scoring throughout the first half as they took the lead through Ahmad Takiyuddin Roslan in the 26th minute while Tomislav Busic added second goal of the game in the 44th minute.

But The Titans were left in disbelief as Gladiators managed to score through Sukri Hamidi in the 51st minute due to a defensive howler, something that T-Team least expected to be from a side full of players from military forces.

T-Team tried to add more goals in the latter stages of the game but can only hang onto the lead as they secured the final spot left by the now defunct Singaporean side, LionsXII who competed in MSL last year.

While ATM will be competing in Malaysia Premier League this season.