I went to watch the Asian Cup game between Malaysia and China in (we lost 1-5) at Bukit Jalil. Here are some of my thoughts after the match…
Publicity
I have read an article from a foreign journalist about his (I assumed) experience in KL… he mentioned that he saw lots of billboards everywhere in the city, but saw nothing about the Asian Cup; he had a feeling that he was at the wrong city for the games… I guess some Malaysians shared the same sentiment too, I know I do.
I can’t recall the organizer taking aggressive methods in pulling the crowd and selling the tickets, or to promote the event. I felt that the Malaysian organizers are taking the event too lightly… for goodness sake, it is one of the largest sporting event in Asia, the world (or at least lots of Asians) are watching the competition; it is a good chance to show how good we are in hosting a major sporting event, or how bad instead.
The Crowd
I think there was around 30,000 people in the stadium watching the game; not really a proud figure (couldn’t fill half of the stadium), but still better than what I expected.
Most of the crowd were well behaved, kudos for that… there were some crooks who threw water bottles to the field though, luckily no one was hurt.
One thing that I think Malaysians need to learn is to respect other’s national anthem. It’s fine to jeer, boo or even curse the opponent during the match… but when a national anthem is played, we should at least have the courtesy to keep quiet.
The Match
Malaysia is thrashed, as expected. I was hoping that they could keep the deficit to 2 goals, but our national team ended losing 1-5 instead. I am not too disappointed though… I kinda accepted the fact that Malaysian football is in a pathetic stage in recent years.
Most of the other fans didn’t share my thinking obviously… there was a point that some Malaysian supporters chanted “China, China” and cheered for the opposition instead. You could imagine how frustrated they were with our players to push them into supporting the opposition.
Luckily we managed to get a consolation goal, the crowd celebrated as if we won the match… Malaysians are easily pleased aren’t we?
[Visit my personal blog to see some photos (14 images) of the event and other extras]
malaysian football no cure already one, waste money only, never improve. rather watch vietnam play, and you’ll be amazed how much they improve. thrashed by china 5-1???? hahaha
I’m an Aussie who’s here in KL to visit my in-laws, hoping to catch Australia play in the semi-final on the 25th July. I agree with the Chinese reporter, you wouldn’t know Malaysia was a co-host of the tournament. There hasn’t been much of, well, anything.
I’m not happy with Astro’s coverage of the event either. Only one of Australia’s group matches will be broadcast live, which is pathetic, Japan vs Qatar gets live coverage though? Huh? I’ve run into more than a few Aussie expats who are keen to watch the Socceroos play but can’t see the matches live unless they fly to Bangkok.
Oh well… I’m just hoping Australia make it to the semi finals so I can go see them play while I’m here.
lil’d… everything has gone wrong for Malaysian football. I can’t remember how the slump started, we just keep on falling and falling and it seems like the ministry and association have no clue at all on how to coup with the situation.
I actually pity the players; they are at the centre of criticism simply because they are the easy targets. I bet that they (or at least some of them) felt as disappointed as most of the fans after being thrashed by the Chinese.
Stevo… Australia has good chance to win the cup. Honestly I don’t want your team to win this time though; it would be quite embarrassing for other Asian teams if the Socceroos claim the title on their debut.
I didn’t know that Astro’s coverage is that poor for the event, they could have add on a couple of extra (temporarily) channels for the competition… but I guess the dollar sign is the priority for them.
Good luck to your team; have a nice stay in Malaysia.
Thanks for the kind words mate! Honestly I wouldn’t be disappointed if we didn’t win it this time. I don’t want the ‘real’ Asian nations to act hostile towards us if we waltz in and steal their cup away from them. I say we let Japan make it a hat-trick then we’ll win it next time. ;)
Ya, that would be a nice scenario.
[...] for the slump of our nation football. In fact his apology to the fans on Wednesday after the China defeat has earned some respect from [...]