Kedah Clinch FA Cup

Notice: Untuk memuaskan hati some of my friends.

Last Saturday Kedah with all the luck in the world managed to bag Malaysia FA Cup. Congrats to them. Hangpa semua memang baguih sungguh laa… Kedah always impress me, they not star studded team, and every year there must be one or two of the players snatched by fancier team. Most notable are Akmal Rizal and Fauzie Nan. But with youngster introduced each year they still one of the powerhouses of Malaysia football. Not less than 5 Kedah players in Malaysia under 21 squad, that shows how good Kedah’s soccer development system. One of Kedah most consistent and loyal player are their captain, Victor Andrag. Aku betul-betul kagum dengan permainan dia yang matang dan mantap. Kenapa Norizan tak select dia for Asian Cup? Pelik...pelik...

Click picture for original picture location

But, the victory news is overshadowed by the stupidity of the event’s organizer. Sultan Kedah, Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah and Pemangku Raja Perlis, Tuanku Syed Faizzudin Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail arrived almost 1 hour late due to traffic jammed near the Batu Kawan Stadium. Both of them are VVIP of the event, FAM invited them not just as royal supporters but also part of the winning ceremony since they will ‘mencemar duli’ untuk menyampaikan hadiah kepada eventually victor, Kedah. Imagine Sultan Kedah yang dah tua tu terpaksa berjalan kaki more than 2 km. 45 minutes…! Aku kagum gila dengan semangat peminat bolasepak nombor satu Kedah itu. If Kedah lose that night, maybe we can categorize all the player as menderhaka, hahahaha…Cuma, aku confius juga, why Sultan Kedah prefer to walk, while his Perlis counterpart sedikit bijak dengan bonceng motor polis traffic.

I’m not really taksub will the kerabat diraja thing, but to be more respectful aku rasa organizer should wait till both royal highness to arrived first then start the match. Tak silap aku, FA Cup di England pun pernah delayed ½ hour or so since some royal families trap in traffic jammed or some other reason that they do not dare to publish.

Kita yang konon-kononnya memartabatkan golongan raja dan sultan dengan tanpa rasa bersalah mulakan sepak mula dengan sultan sedang jalan kaki kat luar stadium. Memang takde otak…!

So, conclusion aku:

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) - macam biasa, super bangang.

Football Association of Penang (FAP)/ Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang
Mungkin juga bangang, sebab tak reti jaga traffic, aku cakap mungkin kerana aku tak sure how deep their involvement dalam organizing the event. FAM gave all the power to them, or just asks them to prepare the venue.

Sultan Kedah - Cool, semangat, berjiwa rakyat, tapi…

Pemangku Raja Perlis - Cool, semangat, berjiwa rakyat, bijak…

Maybe, newspaper today and tomorrow we will hear all the apologizing speech from the jokers responsible for the mistake.

Aku dah basuh kedua-dua bendera Malaysia aku, tak sabar nak jerit-jerit dalam Stadium Bukit Jalil support Malaysia. Kalau ada yang belum tahu, here the schedule of Asian Cup 2007, match di Malaysia sahaja.

Group Matches			Date, Time	Stadium
MALAYSIA	vs	CHINA	10 July, 20:35	Bukit Jalil
IRAN	vs	UZBEKISTAN	11 July, 18:20	Bukit Jalil
UZBEKISTAN	vs	MALAYSIA	14 July, 18:20	Bukit Jalil
CHINA	vs	IRAN	15 July, 18:20	Bukit Jalil
MALAYSIA	vs	IRAN	18 July, 20:35	Bukit Jalil
UZBEKISTAN	vs	CHINA	18 July, 20:35	Shah Alam