AFF Cup: Never Send Boys To Do Men’s Job

AFF (ASEAN Football Federation) Cup has evolved into the region’s biggest football tournament, followed by millions of viewers across Southeast Asia and is considered a great advertising opportunity by various multinational companies.

It is also probably the biggest final round of a football tournament that Malaysia has a real chance of taking part in, without taking into account the SEA Games and Asian Games football competitions which were demoted into mere age-group tournaments. Therefore, it is important for Malaysia to field its best group of players in this tournament which specify no age limit for players.

But does Malaysia field its best group of players? I respect Mr. K. Rajagobal’s experience and expertise as the national team coach, but his selections do raise some eyebrows.

The team with the most number of players in the AFF Cup squad is not the Malaysia Cup champion: Kelantan, nor the Liga Super champion: Selangor. The team which is most represented with 8 players in total is our country’s own under-21 team, the Harimau Muda A. Indeed, the AFF Cup squad looks more like an age-group competition squad now, with 22 from the total of 30 players aged 23 and below.

How many countries have won a full international tournament with age-group squads? Portugal is maybe the only country who can lay claim to being ‘successful’, after reaching the final of Euro 2004 with their Golden Generation of players like Luis Figo and Rui Costa who grew up together in an age-group squad. Even then, the ‘success’ came when the players were already over the age of 30, at home when Portugal was the host of the tournament. Not even Brazil, which never suffers from a lack of exciting young talents, dares to fill its national team with players from only one, age-group squad.

Malaysia dared: and failed. At the 2002 Tiger Cup, an overwhelming 14 of 20 squad members coached by Englishman Allan Harris were of 23 years of age and below. The squad started the tournament with a bang, beating Singapore’s first eleven which fielded two foreign-born, naturalised players, 0-4 at Kallang. The squad later however lost in the semi-finals. In the latest edition of the tournament, B. Sathianathan fielded an even younger set of players: 5 of the first eleven were 22 years old and below. The result? Malaysia didn’t even pass the first hurdle, bowing out from the group stages after losing 3-0 to Thailand. Now Rajagobal looks as if he wants to recycle Harris’s and Sathia’s old ‘recipe’, with the hope of coming out with a ‘dish’ that will taste different.

Malaysia’s best achievement in the AFF Cup is when it advanced to the final of the first edition at 1996. The then national squad, coached by Wan Jamak Wan Hassan, had strength in depth, that even deadly striker Azman Adnan could only find place in the bench. A quick glance to the current AFF squad’s bench will only kill any supporter’s faint hopes: it is filled with youths who have less than 5 caps each. Did these youngsters perform on par with the 7 injured main players whom they replaced in the Asian Games?

There is even a player who is consistently selected for the national team, yet is deemed not good enough to play for his state team. 5 injured players who were selected for the AFF Cup squad were even later confirmed to not being able to take part in the tournament. A waste of 5 spots in the squad!

Surely the confidence of supporters, and maybe even the young players in the squad, can only increase if the squad is beefed up by experienced internationals like Indra Putra Mahayuddin, Amri Yahyah and Negeri Sembilan captain, Rezal Zambery Yahya. This however does not happen when Malaysia, after severely depleting its resources by selecting only professional players (in contrast, Japan does not have a problem to field university players in the Asian Gamers), now further reduces its tiny pool of players by only selecting 3 players above the age of 25 for the AFF Cup squad.

If this self-inflicted ban on players above 25 does exists, is it really required when all other nations are expanding their pool of players as big as possible? Even Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world, is fielding a Uruguay-born striker now.

Will the Harimau Muda A players also be systematically eliminated from the national squad when they become older?

The fact is, a full international tournament like the AFF Cup is not the place for experimenting age-group squads. Age-group squads should be trained by playing friendlies, or at the most desperate of situations: during age-group competitions. Rajagobal will certainly ask all Malaysians to give his young squad a chance to prove their worth. However, he must also understand that this is not the first time, nor the second time, that the Malaysian public has been asked to do exactly that.

———————————————————————————————————

Piala AFF Bukan Medan Eksperimen Pasukan Muda

Piala AFF (Persekutuan Bolasepak ASEAN) kini telah berkembang menjadi pertandingan bolasepak besar yang diikuti oleh berjuta-juta penonton di seluruh Asia Tenggara dan dianggap peluang penajaan yang perlu direbut oleh pelbagai syarikat gergasi.

Ia juga mungkin satu-satunya pertandingan bolasepak pusingan akhir terbesar, tanpa mengira Sukan Asia dan Sukan SEA yang telah diturunkan prestijnya menjadi sekadar pertandingan peringkat umur (age group), yang mampu dan layak disertai oleh pasukan kebangsaan Malaysia ketika ini. Maka adalah ‘wajib’ bagi Malaysia untuk menurunkan kesebelasan terbaik mereka dalam pertandingan ini yang tiada mengenakan apa-apa sekatan pada usia pemain.

Namun adakah Malaysia berbuat demikian? Para peminat menghormati pengalaman dan kepakaran Encik K. Rajagobal selaku jurulatih negara, akan tetapi kegelisahan mula terbit sebaik melihat senarai pemain dalam skuad beliau.

Pasukan yang paling ramai memiliki wakil di dalam skuad Piala AFF negara bukanlah juara Piala Malaysia: Kelantan, atau juara Liga Super: Selangor. Sebaliknya pasukan yang paling ramai memiliki wakil ialah pasukan bawah 21 tahun negara, Harimau Muda A, dengan jumlah 8 orang pemain. Malah skuad Piala AFF negara boleh dikatakan lebih menyerupai skuad kejohanan peringkat umur kerana 22 daripada keseluruhan 30 ahli skuad hanya berusia 23 tahun dan ke bawah.

Berapa banyak negara di dunia yang pernah menjuarai pertandingan bolasepak dengan menggunakan skuad peringkat umur? Mungkin hanya Portugal satu-satunya pasukan negara yang boleh dikatakan ‘berjaya’, setelah menjadi naib juara Euro 2004 dengan Generasi Emas (Golden Generation) Luis Figo, Rui Costa dan rakan-rakan mereka yang membesar bersama-sama melalui hanya satu skuad peringkat umur sahaja. Kejayaan itupun dicapai di gelanggang sendiri setelah mereka melangkau usia 30 tahun. Brazil yang memiliki ramai bakat mudapun tidak pernah berani mengambil risiko memenuhkan skuad senior mereka dengan pemain daripada hanya satu skuad peringkat umur.

Malaysia bagaimanapun lebih ‘berani’ mengambil risiko tersebut: dan gagal. Ketika Piala Tiger 2002, 14 daripada 20 ahli skuad bimbingan Allan Harris berumur 23 tahun dan ke bawah. Skuad berkenaan bermula garang, namun terkandas di separuh akhir. Kali terakhir pada kejohanan tahun 2008, B. Sathianathan menurunkan barisan pemain yang lebih muda: 5 orang daripada kesebelasan utama negara hanya berusia 22 tahun dan ke bawah. Hasilnya? Malaysia gagal melepasi walau peringkat kumpulan, apabila tewas 0-3 kepada Thailand pada perlawanan ketiga. Kini, Rajagobal seakan-akan mahu mengitar semula ‘resipi’ Harris dan Sathia, tetapi mengharapkan ‘juadah’ yang terhasil bakal memberikan rasa yang berbeza.

Pencapaian terbaik Malaysia di Kejohanan AFF ialah layak ke perlawanan akhir ketika edisi sulungnya pada tahun 1996. Skuad bimbingan Wan Jamak Wan Hassan ketika itu memiliki kekuatan menyeluruh (depth), sehinggakan penyerang berbisa Azman Adnan pun sekadar menghuni bangku simpanan. Berbeza dengan bangku simpanan skuad Malaysia ketika ini: sekilas pandang mampu membuatkan mana-mana peminat langsung putus harap kerana ia rata-rata dipenuhi pemain muda yang masing-masing hanya memiliki kurang 5 caps. Adakah pemain-pemain gantian muda ini mempamer prestasi baik ketika menggalas beban peranan yang dikosongkan 7 tonggak utama yang cedera ketika Sukan Asia?

Tambah memusykilkan, ada pemain yang sentiasa boleh dilihat bermain dalam kesebelasan utama negara, namun tidakpun mendapat kepercayaan jurulatih untuk menjadi kesebelasan utama negeri. 4 ahli skuad yang dipilih pula telah lama cedera dan kemudiannya disahkan tidak dapatpun dibawa ke Piala AFF!

Para peminat, mahupun para pemain muda sendiri, pasti akan bertambah yakin sekiranya skuad negara didukung pemain-pemain berpengalaman seperti Indra Putra Mahayuddin, Amri Yahyah dan kapten Negeri Sembilan, Rezal Zambery Yahya. Namun situasi ini tidak berlaku apabila Malaysia, yang telah mengenakan sekatan kepada diri sendiri apabila hanya memilih pemain profesional untuk mewakili negara (berbanding Jepun yang tiada masalah menurunkan pemain universiti di Sukan Asia), kini seolah-olah terus menambah sekatan dan menyempitkan kelompok pemain (pool of players) apabila hanya memilih 3 pemain berusia lebih 25 tahun untuk menganggotai skuad negara.

Jika ‘penyisihan sistematik’ pemain berusia lebih 25 tahun ini wujud, adakah ‘sekatan’ seumpama ini perlu sedangkan negara-negara lain sedaya upaya memperluas kelompok pemain mereka? Indonesia yang memiliki populasi keempat terbesar di duniapun, kini sanggup menurunkan penyerang kelahiran Uruguay.

Adakah para pemain skuad Harimau Muda A pula nanti akan disisih juga setelah mereka melangkau umur 25 tahun?

Hakikatnya, kejohanan bolasepak senior seperti Piala AFF bukanlah medan eksperimen untuk latihan dan pendedahan pasukan muda. Pasukan muda sepatutnya diuji menerusi perlawanan persahabatan, atau paling tidakpun pada kejohanan peringkat umur. Rajagobal pasti akan meminta para peminat untuk terus memberikan peluang dan sokongan kepada pilihan mudanya walaupun jika kalah. Namun beliau sepatutnya faham bahawa ini bukanlah kali pertama, malah bukan kali kedua, peminat-peminat bolasepak negara dituntut menyokong pasukan yang masih ‘dalam pembikinan’, dalam suatu pertandingan senior. Sokong memang boleh, tapi jangan sampai bawa rebah. Kalah memang adat, tapi biar puas hati.

Rimau XI