There needed to be some results and in the space of 12 months, the national under-23 and senior football team provided two.
The under-23s won the Sea Games gold for the first time since 1989 in Laos last December and with the nucleus of that team forming the senior squad, last night they won the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first time ever.
It is a great moment for fans in the country, who've longed for their dose of success for so long. But let's not get carried away.
AFF Suzuki Cup means best among 11 South East Asian nations that form the Asean Football Federation. The highest ranked nation from this region in the FIFA world rankings prior to the AFF Suzuki Cup were Thailand at 121st. Indonesia were 127th, Vietnam 137th, Singapore 140th and Malaysia 144th.
Malaysia may move up a few rungs after this, but the reality is, none of the 11 countries that make up the AFF even qualified among the 16 teams that will compete for the Asian Cup in Qatar next year. That where the level of the AFF Suzuki Cup is.
So, let's not get carried away. There's a long way to go, nothing to really be proud of yet apart from having outdone perennial rivals Indonesia and Singapore.
Done with football for now. It was good to at least see a winning Malaysian team. Long time since I've had the pleasure of that.
Congrats K. Rajagobal, who I'm sure is in line for a Datukship at least, and his band of fighters. I like what I saw, but as I said, much more to be done, a lot more we haven't achieved.
Syabas!!
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