Monday, August 25, 2008
Segenap Hatiku Luluh Mengiringi Dukaku
I was the happiest man when Frank Seator took Selangor to the lead, before knowing that it took only 6 minutes for Kedah to make the Malaysia Cup to good to be true for Selangor. It would be a wonderful farewell for Seator, should his goal was the only goal netted that night – as he and the other two awang import will say goodbye to Malaysian football next season.

FAM remains optimistic the league will bring Malaysia out of the international
football wilderness
..by not having international players in it? Oh well. Let’s talk about the final for now.

I hit the road a little early as I was expecting massive traffic congestion along MRRII leading to Kompleks Sukan Negara. So I bypassed via the new KL-Putrajaya highway to make an exit to Bukit Jalil to avoid the madness.

I was wrong, as heavy downpour and road accidents (a woman driver, no offense) were enough to hold me on the road. My friend was worried of not getting the ticket, as little did he knew that Stadium Bukit Jalil never had its seat sold-out, even during the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

I had to park my car roughly 1km away from the stadium, and it costs me RM2. Fans were seen wandering around, most of them in green and yellow outfit. A group of makcik were seen to don a very nice yellow tudung with green baju kurung, and a bunch of boys, maybe in their 20 something were busy painting each other’s face with green and yellow colour. And the speaking dialects confirmed that I parked at the wrong place. My car was seen sandwiched between two cars with initials of P and K.

Bugger – and the story of valiant Kedah fans was everywhere inside my head. I just have to walk faster, not to the extent of imitating funny professional race walkers.

I grabbed a ticket and quick to find any Selangor supporters just to make the numbers so that I wouldn’t look inferior and alone. And I followed a group into the stadium, only to find..


Half of the stadium already occupied by Kedah fans.

I was astounded of their commitment to come all the way to Bukit Jalil to cheer for the team and was a little furious to find that Kedah fans outnumbered Selangor’s.

Kedah was the better team, no doubt. Selangor had a few serious chances, but lack of sharpness and creativity sent them packing, and another cup wasted. Nelson San Martin was the star of the night, with dazzling performance, Zidane-like razor-sharp passes and the highlight second goal screamer – a deserved man of the match, and probably the best awang import ever played in Malaysia, well, after Mehmet Durakovic, of course.

It was easier for him when Razman Roslan did a Titus Bramble and Shukor Adan did a Shukor Adan along the game.

Something is wrong when Selangor fans were silenced when Kedah’s very own Biar Jasa Jadi Kenangan (a rendition with an effect similar to Liverpool’s You’ll Never Walk Alone) hit the chorus. I was humiliated. The team was humiliated. Selangor fans were humiliated.

But I guess we have no one but ourselves to blame – as the team were not treasured enough by the fans. We booed at our own player when he was substituted and jeered at Dollah Salleh each time his face appeared on the big screen. Well, I know they made a horrible chemistry and played a lousy game for Selangor, but they need us to support them for just 90 minutes of the game. I was particularly impressed by the way Kedah fans behaved towards their players. They cheered, clapped, waved and even sang a song for them.

And not walked away from the team when there was still 5 minutes left in the game.

How I wished people from Lembah Klang could learn from their northern arch-rival.

90 minutes. The title stays in Alor Star, and Kedah fans have another year to bitch about their prominence.

And another year for Selangor fans to ponder.

Anyway Kedah, I hope we will meet again next year. But this time, with no Nelson San Martin, Bernard Huggins and Marlon Alex James in hands.

Viva Red Giants.

P.S. Bitterness, please go away. I am sticking with this one, forever.

 
posted by Izham Ismail at 8:46 pm | Permalink |


10 Comments:


  • At 25 August, 2008 23:44, Blogger Kamal Zafrullah

    mmg aku nantikan topic ni
    not bad la.3-2..
    next season x der player import
    susah skit kedah nak menang..KOT
    hope perak leh try next season..


    p/s:sorry bro x dpt follow

     
  • At 26 August, 2008 18:58, Anonymous Anonymous

    sarawak bakal menggegar..haha

     
  • At 26 August, 2008 18:59, Blogger Amirul Hafidz

    Kalau dulu2 final Piala Malaysia kat Stadium Shah Alam, abes game supporters team yg kalah bakar bas supporters opponent. Nasib baik Kedah tak kalah, kalau tak mesti dh arwah kereta kau. Haha.

    Ahh, no foreign imports starting from next season. So we're back to square one. Few years lepas dh try kan, then x lama panggil balik those imports, katanya bila diorang takde football scene jadi hambar? Tengok la tak lama lepas ni tukar lagi policy tu. Bagus, kita ulang dan ulang lagi silap yang lepas, jangan belajar. Entah bila bola sepak kita nk maju.

    Kau poke sikit KJ tu kat Facebook, suruh dia baca sejarah FAM.

     
  • At 27 August, 2008 21:29, Blogger Iskandar

    haha..aku dapat satu fact pasal Kedah FC..
    this is among the world club futball la.
    KEdah FC duk kat tmpt ats compared ngan Manchester CIty.
    haha
    bangge la.

     
  • At 27 August, 2008 22:56, Anonymous Anonymous

    apa nak sedih...kedah dan selangor tu dua2 PAKATAN RAKYAT.....hehehehe satu PAS satu PKR

    masuk politik sikit....

     
  • At 28 August, 2008 19:21, Blogger Izham Ismail

    kamal: perak pun boleh tahan. arch-rival kedah jugak tu. no problem bro, maybe next time.

    dino: good luck sarawak. gegarlah kalau berani.

    cepe: biasalah, buat website tapi tak baca. entah entah dia pun lupa dia ada facebook. sibuk bersidang agaknya. pi mai pi mai tang tu, betul lah tu. bila agaknya nak belajar.

    kandaq: haha, lepas ni bolehlah masuk epl.

    anonymous: politics in football. lagi sedih kot?

     
  • At 29 August, 2008 01:13, Blogger telegramsesat

    selangor sudah kalah sebelum sepak mula!lihat saja pemain ke 12..haha

     
  • At 01 September, 2008 23:52, Blogger flip flop

    hehehe=)

    nway kedah memang power kot.
    we will c nxt season..hehehe

    without semua plyer import tuh..hehehe=)

    but i hope Kedah akan menang gak!

     
  • At 02 September, 2008 00:40, Blogger Izham Ismail

    ijal: tu yang aku angin tu. bak kata tagline filem kami, hidup memang palat, tapi esok masih ada. tapi akmal rizal sudah tiada.

    missy siti: mari kita sama-sama lihat (kalau boleh di stadium, bukan sekadar di rumah).

     
  • At 04 November, 2008 17:54, Anonymous Anonymous

    wah bestnye tgk bola live lg...blh ikut ke?...ros