I can't remember the last time I saw England played that well. Passed the ball all over the place, superior in possession, and had both Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard on top of their performance.

It could never be more dramatic and special than to secure a place in World Cup finals in front of fervent roar of English crowd, and at the church of football, Wembley stadium.

Rooney showed exemplary piece of maturity he developed over the years and Glenn Johnson looked fit to fill the right back as he rose to the occasion to prove himself as an attacking defender by supplying crosses that met Steven Gerrard head for a goal and few others that tested out-and-out Croatian goalkeeper.

So did Aaron Lennon and Gareth Barry.

By and large, the whole England team were on the spotlight, and they need that for the World Cup. A champion needs that.

Argentina are fumbling, so are Portugal. Possibility is there that we might not see the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo not playing in the biggest event on earth.

Brazil look as the team that could stand in England's way, other than Spain, if England are serious in re-enacting 1966 sweet triumph.

Because North Koreans already did. They are back in the World Cup after 44 years. Yes, 1966.

So England should be taking notes and start preparing themselves, and above all, avoid complacency. Of course, stay away from injuries.

And one more, use that bloke Jermaine Defoe more often. He is hungry for goals.

Good luck Three Lions. And congratulations to Brazil, Holland, Japan, Australia, South Korea, North Korea, Ghana and of course, South Africa.

Both Koreans are in the World Cup? Yes.

*

Looking back, Malaysia should be taking notes and preparing themselves too. 1Malaysia, 1QualifiedToWorldCupBeforeIDie please?

P.S. - The picture has nothing to do with how well England played against Croatia. It was just me trying to play like Steven Gerrard and went home limping off.

Suharto gave us peace. If not because of him, Malaysian history would not be the same, and the lives of three peoples: Malaysians, Singaporeans and Indonesians themselves would be hugely different, given that how poor the economic and social stability was during that time.

A pragmatic man, he cleverly played his country's role as a big brother to bind us, developing good relationship with Tun Razak, Tun Dr Mahathir and surely Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong. The region was peaceful once again.

It is not another reason for us to hold grudge over the failure of Konfrantasi, for it is a lesson to be learnt, that it should never happened again.

It saddened me when we find ways to spark the fire we thought has been casted out. Maybe this is another stance George Santayana was implying when he said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

So big brother, stop hating us. After all, we are all brothers. Don't you know that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?

Aku tengok Liverpool menang lawan Bolton hari itu dekat kedai mamak. Aku pergi dengan seorang penyokong Manchester United, seorang penyokong Arsenal, dan dua orang penyokong Liverpool. Semua Melayu, dan semua pandai baca Quran.

Liverpool agak nervous malam itu, ketinggalan dua kali sebelum Steven Gerrard score last minute winning goal. Teh ais aku jadi sedap lepas 82 minit. Habis game, aku order satu lagi teh ais.

Malam itu, mamak-mamak semua busy. Mamak-mamak ke hulu ke hilir lintang pukang. Meja penuh, sampai ada yang terpaksa tunggu orang lain bangun untuk dapat tempat. Ada yang cuba ambil kerusi dari meja lain. "Ada orang bang?", soalan yang silap ditanya pada malam itu, lagi lagi kalau ditanya pada penyokong Bolton.

Eh, pengunjung semua Melayu, mana ada sokong Bolton.

Patut lah ramai, malam ini Manchester United lawan Arsenal. Semua orang jadi gila dekat kedai mamak malam itu. Macam biasa lah, setiap meja ada Shebby Singh. Setiap meja mesti ada number one supporter.

Biasanya aku makan nasi goreng cili api lepas game dan tauhu bakar sebagai dessert. Malam itu, aku order cheese nan dan ayam tandoori, mungkin terlalu happy untuk buat benda tipikal. Liverpool menang, remember?

Aku tengok ramai yang pakai baju Arsenal daripada Manchester United. Awek cun dua orang kat meja depan pun pakai baju Arsenal. Satu pakai topi, mungkin sebab nak tunjuk dia tak berapa cun supaya tak kena kacau. Satu lagi tak pakai topi, mungkin sebab rambut dia cantik dan tak nak rosakkan.

Meja sebelah ada Rosicky, nombor tujuh. Kolar angkat macam Eric Cantona. Mula-mula dia duduk seorang, tak order air, senyap main telefon. Lepas kawan-kawan dia datang, dia lah Rosicky, dia lah Shebby. Kawan dia seorang bawa perempuan. Lagi terangkat lah Rosicky gelek bawa bola.

Arsene Wenger memang patut buat drama malam itu. Terus terang, Arsenal main jauh lebih cantik dari Manchester United. Tapi biasa lah, main cantik macam mana pun, kalau tak boleh score, tak menang juga.

Rosicky sebelah meja jerit kuat gila masa Arshavin score. Arshavin pun satu, score tak beragak cantiknya. Mesti dia bayang muka Darren Fletcher masa dia hayun bola itu.

Rosicky diam bila Rooney sumbat penalty. Hentak-hentak meja sikit masa Almunia tackle dia, tak puas hati keputusan pengadil. Nasib baik hentak sikit sahaja, kalau lebih sikit, sure kawan dia yang bawa awek itu dah minta diri.

Tapi bila Diaby score gol sendiri, dia mula panik dan tak tentu arah. Gol Robin van Persie dibatalkan sebab Gallas offside.

Robin van Persie pun relax sahaja. Tapi Rosicky sebelah meja emotional macam kalah bet dengan gangster Cina.

Unlucky Gunners. Mula lah nak blame pengadil. Fuck you, pengadil did a great job that night, given the amount of pressure the game naturally has. Eboue was caught diving, when we taught Evra was the baddy.

Apa-apa pun, it was a great night of football. Banyak aksi cantik (mostly from Arsenal lah), dan to top it all, banyak drama.

Anyway, masa half time, something priceless happened. Lepas iklan bodoh MyEG yang satu haram aku tak faham itu, satu kedai mamak terpaku tengok satu iklan ini: dekat hospital, seorang jururawat tengah attend dua tiga orang pesakit; satu bibir bernanah, satu kaki tak ada, satu lagi aku tak ingat, tapi teruk lah. Semua orang berdebar macam tengok penalty. Masing-masing cuba teka itu iklan apa. Tapi bila anak jururawat itu pegang kotak rokok, memang sah lah, itu iklan berhenti merokok.

Sumpah, semua orang bersorak macam masa Arshavin score tadi. Kalau director iklan itu kebetulan minum dekat kedai mamak itu, sure dia belanja member dia satu meja.

It was the moment for anyone who don't smoke. Masing-masing angkat kening dan excited nak perli orang-orang yang hisap rokok malam itu. Kedai mamak bising seketika. Jarang kedai mamak nak bising macam itu masa half time.

Meja aku tak bising sangat, sebab kalau bising time itu, aku akan hilang kawan. Kawan aku lagi ramai merokok dari tidak merokok. Mereka tak perlu sokong Liverpool dan berhenti merokok untuk minum semeja dengan aku. Mereka hanya perlu tahu hormat orang lain.

Biasanya dua gelas teh ais sudah cukup untuk sekali lepak minum. Malam itu, aku order teh ais lagi segelas. Mungkin terlalu happy untuk buat benda-benda tipikal.

Akhirnya, tiga gelas teh ais, sepinggan cheese nan dan ayam tandoori, Liverpool menang, great football from Gunners and Devils, dan tengok bola dengan favorite people.

Kalau kedai mamak itu tunjuk Real Madrid lawan Deportivo lepas itu, aku dah lama stay.

Tapi tak apa, time-time itu lah gunanya Astro Supersport kat rumah. Kereta penuh sebab aku bawa favorite people sekali tengok Ronaldo dengan Kaka main pula.

Higuain main macam bangsat, Real bernasib baik tak masuk dia awal-awal. Si Lass score winning goal. Tapi aku tetap rasa number 10 is too much for him. Tapi apa guna nombor cantik kalau main tak cantik kan? Sebagai contoh, Andriy Voronin.

Biasanya aku tak tengok sangat Primera Liga. Malam itu, aku layan full time. Mungkin terlalu happy untuk buat benda-benda tipikal.

Habis aku cerita malam bersama the lads. Biasanya benda-benda macam ini rahsia. Mungkin terlalu happy untuk, ah berapa kali nak ulang lah.

Selamat.

It is 3 hours before the transfer window closed. Amri Yahyah still has a chance to play in the Premier League.

Today is a new day in Japan. Japanese will have their breakfast tasted differently today.

Meanwhile, today is just another day in Malaysia.

Happy Independence Day.