Skip to main content

More excitement in Malacca

SURELY you have to expect there will be upsets at the World Cup but the real challenge is in trying to figure out beforehand where they are going to be coming from.
Hardly anyone, bar the Swiss, expected Spain to lose their opening match, but lose they did. The English too were so sure they'd beat the Americans, but it took just one individual error to turn a win into a draw.

The lack of goals in the World Cup, boring to some but only natural as the game becomes more tactical at the highest level, has somewhat been compensated by its unpredictability.

Brazil and Argentina won their opening games, as many had expected, but the manner in which it was achieved, against North Korea and Nigeria respectively, might have left some of their fans disappointed.
And so it has been left to minnows, at least from an Asian perspective, to light up the tournament with morale boosting wins for South Korea and Japan.

North Korea too did themselves credit by scoring late on against mighty Brazil but how they fare in their subsequent matches is anyone's guess.

Some games, however, failed miserably to live up to "world-class" standards, with many fans on social-networking sites and fan pages deriding the Algeria v Slovenia and New Zealand v Slovakia matches.

So disengaging was the action, that I found the Malaysia Games football matches in Malacca so much more palatable.

At least there is a degree of expectancy here that would not disappoint you as some of the World Cup matches have.

You tailor expectations according to the standard of the tournament and on that basis, I can say that the Malaysia Games football tournament has been good to watch.

Predictably, today's final is between Selangor and Terengganu, both favourites to get to the gold medal match from the start.

Also on show will be some unpolished gems that sadly most Malaysians will be oblivious to as the Malaysia Games final fades into the shadow of the biggest single-event show on earth.

Read more: NST

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...

Atlet Tempuhi Empat Kejohanan Besar Sebelum Olimpik Rio 2016

KUALA LUMPUR, 31 Mei (Bernama) -- Empat temasya sukan penting yang dijadual berlangsung mulai Disember ini hingga 2015 menjadi medan persiapan atlet negara sebelum menghadapi cabaran Sukan Olimpik 2016 di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, kata Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Khairy Jamaluddin Jumaati. Kejohanan berkenaan ialah Sukan SEA di Myanmar pada Disember, Sukan Asia 2014 di Incheon, Korea Selatan, Sukan Komanwel 2014 di Glasgow, Scotland dan Sukan SEA 2015 di Singapura. Bercakap kepada pemberita selepas melawat Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) di Bukit Jalil di sini, Khairy berkata kesemua temasya sukan itu dilihat amat penting dalam memastikan impian negara untuk membawa pulang pingat emas Olimpik pertama menjadi kenyataan. "Kita di Kementerian Belia dan Sukan (KBS) mahupun MSN akan memastikan semua atlet mendapat bantuan sewajarnya dalam melakukan persiapan ke arah membawa pulang pingat emas pertama negara di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil nanti," katanya. Dalam perkemb...

Uber Cub: Malaysian squad Can Spring A Surprise - Ahmad Shabery

KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (Bernama) -- Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek remains confident that the national Uber Cup squad can spring a surprise when Malaysia hosts the Thomas and Uber Cup finals at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from May 9-16. He said despite not being the favourite, the women's team was able to surprise everyone by winning the gold medal at the Laos SEA Games. "I am confident they (Uber Cup team) will be able to produce a similar surprise. Not only are they capable of reaching the semi-final, they can go further," he told reporters after having lunch with national shuttlers here Thursday. National badminton Team manager Datuk Syed Abu Bakar Abdullah who echoed the minister's confidence said: "In Laos, nobody expected the women's team to win the world, so why not the Uber Cup? All they need to do is try their very best." Women's team captain Wong Pei Tty said she and her team-mates have set a target of r...