Well, the time I've spent not updating this blog out of my own displeasure with doing it, is nothing compared to the length of the wait Malaysia has had before we could feel a little sense of pride in our football team.
A long way from the embarassing 5-1 group stage defeat to Indonesia coach K. Rajagobal's men have come and if the 2-0 aggregate semi-final win over Vietnam, courtesy of both goals scored in the first leg at home, wasn't enough, the team is now 3-0 up against the same Indonesia team who handed them that thrashing just two weeks ago, after the eye-popping first leg of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup final at the National Stadium on Sunday.
I made my way to the stadium via LRT that evening, and was in for a surprise. Never in my life of following both my home team Selangor and the national team, had I been amidst a crowd of this magnitude. It was a crawl to get near the stadium gates and when we were inside, this was shortly before kick-off at 8pm, we found no way into the seating areas via any of the 20 or so access tunnels we tried on all tiers.
The National Stadium was overflowing with humans. There must have been much more than the 100,000 capacity crowd, because still outside the stadium were thousands more.
We walked all the way into the zone where the Indonesian fans were seated behind the scoreboard and barely found a spot on a staircase where we could catch the whole view of the pitch, our palms sweating in anxiety and heads filled with worry, surrounded by the enemy. Even this, was done during half time when some of the crowd had left the comforts of their vantage points to release or replenish bodily fluids.
Of course the highlights of the night, apart from the three cool goals, were the pyrotechnics display from the fans. The Malaysians have taken a note of Ultras in Serie A, the Turkish league and other football mad countries and come up with a display of their own.
Only problem was that on more than one occasion, the regular missiles in the form of mineral water bottles and half eaten packets of food that were thrown in the direction of the pitch, were accompanied by fireworks and laser beams on the faces of players.
The Sports Minister wasn't happy and said THIS.
Now pyrotechnics are seen as the baddest thing to hit Malaysian football, by the politicians at least. And the fans are doing themselves no good by letting these shows spill onto the pitch and affect play.
But the administrators and police have failed in their bid to stop this from happening, so miserably that the Ultras have now graduated from simple to more elaborate fireworks and proudly hold aloft flares in celebration without fear of authority.
One thing's certain. Some day when Malaysia is losing and playing badly, some of those flares are coming down the way of the pitch. And 11 laser beams are going to shine on each opposition player, not just their goalkeeper. Maybe they'll even have three extra beams for the referee and his two assistants.
What the authorities fail to realise, despite all the media space they get to voice their displeasure of the acts of fans, is that the way things are going the likelihood of them winning this battle is similar to narcotics being totally wiped out of the country. It is virtually impossible.
But unlike their battles against the druglords, this is one battle in which they won't exactly be doing their own cause any harm by offering a hand in peace and begin negotiations towards an amicable solution. Years of FRU abuse on fans has already resulted in the police being seen somewhat as part of the enemy by most football fans. Hence the rebellion.
The authorities will not win this battle to eradicate pyrotechnics from Malaysia's football stadia simply because with the national team on a rise, and as seen in the past year, attendances will most certainly multiply. Crowds will be beyond control.
This is a good example to explain what I mean:
Amidst a crowd of over 100,000 and with hundreds of various pyrotechnic devices set off during the course of Sunday's match, they merely arrested five alleged culprits, as reported HERE. Well, the report says the five were arrested for "various offences including climbing the stadium wall, throwing bottles, having firecrackers and lighting flares."
Climbing wall, throwing bottles, having firecrackers and lighting flares, that's four offences - so one each I guess. And the report continues to state that some were arrested for being drunk and obstructing the police from carrying out their duties. That surely means the other one did that.
I swear, I must have heard or seen more than 100 firecrackers going off in different areas of the stadium, and they arrested one for mere possession. Thousands of water bottles showered the surroundings of the pitch from all around the stadium, and they caught one culprit for throwing bottles. I saw more than 20 flares being lit at different spots throughout the stadium all throughout the match, there could have easily been more, and they caught one culprit. Pictures appeared in some media of both Indonesian and Malaysian fans, hundreds of them climbing both walls and fences, and they caught one too.
One I did not manage to see was that drunk guy obstructing the police, so congratulations to them for that rare catch.
As attendances build up, so will the passion of the fans. And these are Malaysian football fans from a new generation. This is a generation from which the majority weren't even born the last time Malaysia tasted a worthwhile success on the international stage.
They've been waiting all their lives for the national team to hit the vein of form that they're in now. You simply cannot stop their passion from boiling over, whichever way they choose to express it. So, do not turn them into rebels, who eventually develop into destructive hooligans nobody can control. They need to be engaged to help the cause of the national team.
One thing these Ultras can do is turn the National Stadium into a cauldron of fear for opposing teams. The noise they create, the fire from the stands as visible on Sunday will send more than a shiver down the spines of anyone who is against their team. It could be hell for visiting teams. Wouldn't this help the national team when playing vital home-and-away fixtures in qualifying rounds for the World Cup, Olympics and Asian Cup?
Many of the fans I've spoken to actually look forward to going to football matches these days simply because, apart from the football, they enjoy the pyrotechnics and the surprises.
Look around the world and you will find pyrotechnics a part of football culture, well most places apart from the over-civilised and over-commercialised EPL of course.
What the fans should be discouraged from is the throwing of missiles, beaming of lasers and monkey-like behaviour. This can be easily controlled.
My suggestion is, let's get the authorities to sit down with the fan clubs, get everything organised. Of course some people will have to do some extra work. But hey, this can be exciting.
Designate a section of the stadium for the Ultras. Get them to organise a fan-based pyrotechnics show within allocated times before the match, during half-time and after the match. Let them light as many flares as they want, set-off as many fireworks as they want, in that designated area, during that designated time. Heck, get it all choreographed to give it an artistic touch!
Then you can get all those who want to do these things in one corner, without endangering the players or other fans. Because you have them all in one designated area, you can then have some level of control over these "pyro-artists".
They should only be discouraged from throwing anything towards the pitch. Doesn't that make your job easier you cops??
At the end of the day, everybody wins. The fans get to have a good time, those who want to can put on a show without having to become criminals, the stadiums are full, the national teams has fearful opponents and football gains from it all.
Let's be more open-minded about the whole thing. That's all.
Or look at this video as a warning sign...
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