Bestfbkl : There was no passion, desire and pride on the face of the footballers, The prima donna high paid players just folded up. After a few goals, the challenges and tackles were all half hearted.. There was no formation to the team at all. The UAE players at times just walked through the heart of the defence, What was the coach thinking off when he was experimenting with an unproven formation in a match at this level. Hasn't the team had enough friendly matches to know which formation best suits his team with the player he has? Then when you really have good calibre opponents for friendly matches like the Liverpool team who came to KL recently, what does FAM do , field a team with foreigners!
THE STAR
petaling Jaya: After Malaysia’s biggest ever defeat in a men’s football match when the team was thrashed 10-0 by the United Arab Emirates in a World Cup qualifying match, national football coach Dollah Salleh (pix)has quit.
“The fans will not accept this result. I take full responsibility for the defeat,” Dollah told reporters when announcing his decision upon his arrival at KLIA from Abu Dhabi last night.
The 51-year-old former international will not lead the team out when it takes on Saudi Arabia in Shah Alam on Tuesday. His place is set to be taken over by Datuk Ong Kim Swee, according to a reliable source within the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
FAM president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah is expected to make an official announcement soon.
“There is a possibility of hiring a new foreign coach,” said the source.
The national body failed to lure several leading foreign coaches, including Frenchman Philippe Troussier, before offering Dollah the job last June.
FAM secretary-general Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin said the result in Abu Dhabi was simply “unbelievable”.
The odds were stacked heavily against the experimental Malaysian side as Dollah was forced to field new faces following dismal results in the earlier qualifying matches at home in June. Then, Malaysia was held 1-1 by minnow Timor Leste and humiliated 6-0 by war-torn Palestine.
The result on Thursday came after another embarrassing 0-0 draw with Bangladesh in a warm-up match in Shah Alam.
Malaysia’s best performance under Dollah was in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup final, which it lost to Thailand (4-3 on aggregate) last December.
On the game against UAE in Abu Dhabi, Dollah said he did not know what hit them.
“I don’t know what happened, especially in defence. We let in easy goals. Three or four of them were conceded easily. UAE put up a good performance, especially Omar Abdulrahman (No.10). He is a great player and definitely ‘killed’ our players.
“I didn’t expect to let in 10 goals. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to win here and that’s why I set a target of at least a point.
“But the way UAE played ... I don’t know what happened to our players, everything went down he drain.”
Malaysia’s worst result before this was going down to New Zealand 8-2 in a match in Kuala Lumpur almost 50 years ago.
The criticism against the team was scathing. The “towkay” of Malaysian football, Datuk Soh Chin Aun, was shocked by the score line.
“This news is worse than the ringgit’s depreciation,” said Soh, the only Malaysian to have qualified for two Olympics – Munich (1972) and Moscow (1980). Malaysia, however, boycotted the Moscow Games.
“What a crazy piece of news. It is one hell of a thing to concede 10 goals in a match. And I can’t believe coach Dollah had to field all three goalkeepers in one match. Just shameful.”
Legend Santokh Singh called for a total revamp of the national body. He described the heavy loss as a “national disaster”.
“When we lost to Kuwait 4-0 (in the 1981 Asian World Cup qualifying) the media called it ‘Kuwait debacle’. What do you call a 10-0 loss? I can only think of national disaster.”
Football results between Malaysia and UAE. - Facebook/ Muhammad Rizal Hashim
PETALING JAYA: Malaysians woke up to a football nightmare, with news of a 10-0 thrashing by the United Arab Emirates – the worst result ever for the national team.
The team is now under a barrage of criticism and ridicule.
Whether in casual conversations, on social networking sites or messaging applications, many could not believe the manner of Malaysia’s defeat.
Facebook user Bob Abidin suggested a pay cut for every player while Jebb Af Wahab said the performance warranted a place in a circus.
Others suggested the name of the team be changed from “Harimau Malaya” to “Hello Kitty” or “Pussycat Dolls”.
Many memes were also widely circulated, with one of the most popular being that of a Malaysia Book of Records certificate for the biggest defeat in an international match.
Another meme was that of the difficulty setting in the FIFA15 video game. In this meme, Malaysia was placed below “VERY EASY”.
While some saw the lighter side of the defeat, many others were just angry.
Taking the brunt were Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and coach Dollah Salleh.
Sainizahra Abdulrahim said fans should boycott Malaysia’s matches.
“It is pitiful to the fans who want to support their team, the standard which don’t differ much from the playground,” he lamented on FAM’s Facebook page.
Zulhilmi Kamal asked if the office bearers in FAM were waiting for a 36-0 loss before they quit.
“There is no excuse for all of you to stay in FAM unless you don’t know how to feel shame,” he said.
Facebook user Dave Benjamin said there was a need for a complete overhaul of FAM from top to bottom.
There were also those who pleaded with the fans to keep on supporting the team.
Naresh Khanna said it was typical that many were quick to condemn the team when Malaysia lost.
Azuan Ahmad Zahdi said on Twitter that he would support the team regardless of the results.
“Win or lose, I will continue to be at the stadium. Next match this Tuesday. Selamanya(Forever),” he said.
PETALING JAYA: Sports Commissioner Datuk Zaiton Othman (pix) believes the training system of the national football team could have been at fault, resulting in the team’s 10-0 defeat to the United Arab Emirates.
“Was our training method 20 years behind time?” she asked, saying that all parties need to identify the real reason for the national squad’s poorest performance yet on Thursday in Abu Dhabi.
“In this situation, I would rather take a psychological perspective – why didn’t our players play like their rivals? What were their mistakes? Is our training pattern outdated?” she told mStar Online.
Zaiton added that the questions needed to be answered for the future of national football.
This is the worst defeat the national football team has faced in recent times.
Zaiton admitted that she too was disappointed with the national team’s performance like the rest of the country.
“The players do not have the same fighting spirit as the veterans such as the late Datuk Mokhtar Dahari, Datuk Soh Chin Aun and others,” she said.
