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!
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