Road to AFF Suzuki Cup Final

The glory days of Malaysian football is back! After a thrashing defeat 5-1 to Indonesia in the group stage, few would pick the young Malaysian team as favorites to go to the final. Injuries to 10 key players, forced K Rajagopal to go for youth where the back four consisted of players from Harimau Muda squad which had little international experience.

The defeat to Indonesia was mainly due to individual mistakes rather than the team. Poor defending cost us dearly, as the nerves surely got into the young Malaysian players. We drew 0-0 with the mighty Thailand in the second group match where the coach in charged was former Manchester United skipper Bryan Robson. Malaysia last group match was with lowly Laos which saw them cruised to victory 5-1. It was needed boost of confidence to the players to go to the semis.

Malaysia faced defending champions and group B winner Vietnam. The semifinal was played over 2 leg. Malaysia created an upset by defeating the defending champions with 2 late goals from striker Safee Sali. Away at Hanoi for the second leg, Malaysia drew 0-0 and reached their first AFF Cup final in 14 years in the competition.

Only one team stand in their way to glory and its no other than the high flying Indonesian Garudas. With the earlier 5-1 defeat in the group stage still fresh in mind. K. Rajagopal knew that a win at home is very crucial. Malaysia held the 1st leg and Indonesia held the 2nd leg. My friends and I made the trip to show our support for the national team. A crowd of 100,000 filled the stadium. The atmosphere was electrifying. It was my second time watching the national team played. The first time was last year when Manchester United came down :P Much to the surprise of everyone in the stadium, the ball possession was equally distributed between both teams. On the hour mark Safee Sali broke the deadlock to put Malaysia ahead. The stadium exploded into a frenzy. The momentum continued when Malaysia added a second goal from Ashaari. The Malaysian team was growing in confidence and Safee Sali hammered the final nail in the coffin for Indonesia when he header the 3rd goal for Malaysia. The match was definitely legendary!

Indonesia won the return leg 2-1 but it wasn't enough as Malaysia went on to win the AFF Suzuki Cup final 4-2 on aggregate. It was the first time Malaysia won the AFF Cup and surely it won't be last. The victory had united the whole nation and gave the Malaysian fans something to cheer for. Congratulation Malaysia!



      

BASH #195 Semenyih, Selangor

DATE: 19 DECEMBER 2010

Before we head out to Semenyih we stopped by KLIA to send Aunt Carol and Arif. They're heading back to Sarawak for the holiday season. Pak Mat didn't go due to work obligations. This would be the last bash for the year with Christmas being the theme of the ride. The Fish Valley Semenyih kindly let KLMBH used the venue as the rv point. It was surely a family day out as more riders of all ages turn out for the ride. Uncle Jo and I registered as members for 2011 bash. Surely that would pushed us to participate more and commit to future bash ride. Pak Mat decided to ride short due to heart burned suffered the day before. Uncle Jo and I managed to persuade him to ride long. No rush no hustle.

The trail which consists of two major climbs with downhill being the trickiest as there were many slippery slopes due to the muddy conditions. There were amazing scenic views of hilly landscape and few berries (if not mistaken) plantation. It felt like Cameron Highlands for sure.

After the ride, Pak Mat's Avanza suffered a puncture tire. So we stopped by the nearest mechanic. We were back on the road by no time. Semenyih is near the Kajang area, so decided to dine in for some Sate Kajang at Hj Samuri. It was my first time that I had been to the main headquaters of the famous Sate Kajang fast-food restaurant.

BASH#194 Lenggeng, Negri Sembilan

DATE: 28 NOVEMBER 2010

I'm riding with Uncle Johan today. Pak Mat couldn't joined us as he got a wedding ceremony to attend to. 7am sharp Uncle Jo arrived to pick me up at Pak Mat's crib and off we go! Riding Pak Mat's Schwimmer full sus bike to tackle the trails. Apparently, Uncle Jo's bike collections are growing. He's also riding a full sus bike. No more hard tails for him.

With few bash experience between us, we were determined to ride long. The pre-ride description advised riders to bring atleast 4 liters of water on this ride. So, I borrowed Pak Mat's largest hydration pack (3 liters). I'd filled the bladder up with water the night before and at the bash site, found out it was leaking and lost about half of its content.

Fortunately, the weather turned out to be pleasantly forgiving with a short rain downfall during the ride. On my last climb my tank was empty but still managed to finish strong as there were only few kilos left. We had Mc Donald's for lunch and talked about the ride all the way home.

Ten reasons why it's United's year

from Inside United

1. The weight of history – since Sir Alex’s first championship win, only once has there been a gap of more than a year (2004-2006) between United losing and regaining the crown. You won’t get much value betting against another win in 2010/11.

2. Hunger – the gaffer always looks his players in the eye before the season begins to see if the drive to succeed is still there, but he’ll scarcely need to rally the troops this time around. We confidently beat the current champions at Wembley on Sunday, and there’s no doubting we want our trophy back!

3. World Cup woe – Chicharito aside, United’s internationals had disappointing World Cup campaigns. Why is this good? 1) They’ll be desperate to get back to winning ways. 2) They’ll have had a decent rest.

4. We can’t be that unlucky with injuries again – surely we won’t spend another winter with two entire back fours on the treatment table.

5. Help for Wayne - 30+ goals between a resurgent Dimitar Berbatov and the new-boy Chicharito, You heard it here first.

6. A last hurrah? Giggsy, Scholesy, Nev and Edwin will all want another winners’ medal before (eventually) hanging up their boots (although rumour has it Ryan may get a contract extension to 2050)

7. Youngsters to the fore – the new breed, led by Jonny Evans, will be crucial to United’s squad. Keep an eye on Rafael, Fabio, Macheda, Gibson, Smalling and Obertan, plus a hot tip for a midfield breakthrough, Tom Cleverley.

8. John O’Shea – His defensive balance was sorely missed last term (he played 54 games in 2008/09) and we’ve just got a hunch he’ll do something absolutely crucial in the run-in. Let’s say, a winner at the Emirates…

9. Rooney’s still learning – 34 goals last season after a tactical shift up top showed Wayne’s football brain is still expanding. He only stopped scoring in the run-in (and in the World Cup) because he wasn’t properly fit. He will get even better.

10. We are United. And we don’t like second.

Its gonna be LEGENDARY!

Community Shield: Chelsea 1 Man Utd 3

man utd utk kehidupan

Taman Empangan Batu

Date: 27 June 2010

The night before I slept over at Pak Mat's house. Pretty bumped up after found out that not riding EPIC(bash). Maybe it was for the best as Pak Mat was feeling under the weather and I didn't prepare myself properly either. Though I'd already brought my own powerbar for EPIC. Instead we head to Taman Empangan Batu, Batu Caves, Selangor. We were join by Uncle Johan (pak mat's friend). This dude also just started mtb around the same time as me. Cool fact about him. He got 40+ guitar collection so i heard.

Covered around 15km. Got sucked by a leech for the first time in my life. Its not as bad I'd imagined. Turned out to be a great ride and nice sunday work out =D

My first Bash

Date: 22 may 2010
4.00pm Woke up from bed after another weary night shift.

7.00pm Start shift at 7-eleven.

Date: 23 may 2010
7.00am End of night shift. Grabbed breakfast, packed my mtb stuff and shoot straight to Pak Mat Jazlan's crib.

8.00am Reached Pak Mat's crib. Aunt Carol and Aarif were joining us too.

9.00am Reached bash site Bukit Beruntung. Its a bit further up Sungai Buloh. 30 minutes drive from PJ. I'm so pump up seeing many people participating.

10.00am Bash#189 Bukit Beruntung starts. There were 2 routes, a long and a short one. Obviously, I took on the long one to experience the full bash adventure. Aarif was riding today, so Pak Mat tagged along with him in the short. Aarif is just 7 years old. Say what! The trail consists of mostly palm oil estate with the occasional uphill and downhill. It rained the previous day so the terrain was a bit muddy. At first I tried to avoid it but I find it impossible. After getting my first mud splashed then it was game on from there after. Paddled through every puddle of mud with joy and exhilaration. It was meant to get dirty!


1.00pm Finished the long ride. It was about 25km. As I arrived back to the car, Aarif and Pak Mat had already finished their short ride which was about 12km.

2.00pm Had lunch at Restoran Jejantas Sungai Buloh.

3.00pm Washed the bikes. Aarif helped us too.

4.00pm Reached home. Showered. Dreamland.

LEGENDARY

SUIT UP!