Soccer Kids tv3

What are the odds a true blue soccer fan watching Malaysian U13 kids playing against a relatively unknown kid soccer club from the land of the rising sun amidst Euro 08 fever and to the lesser extent SUKMA games in KT?

But there I was, cheering and having heart stopping moments watching a replay of a match scantly significant only to those who managed to fill up the half full Shah Alam Stadium that evening.

Never had I feel such a 'patriotic' feeling over any Malaysian soccer team over quite some time. The last being that night in 1980 when Hassan Sani 'jolok' the ball to James Wong to score against South Korean for the ticket to Moscow Olympics. Well not quite, there were few other moments; one night that we won the Sea Games soccer gold medal in 1989, later our homegrown Suparman scored one of the goal from halfway line on that crazy 5-3 scoreline with the Thais.

My last full paying stadium attendance as a fan was in 1986 when Selangor hosted Singapore to a scoreless draw at Stadium Merdeka! That showed how remote I was with the current Malaysian soccer scene. I guess the soccer kids has whetted up my appetite to demand for a good showing of Malaysian senior team at the Sea Games. I just hope these kids, when they do grow up and realised their potential, wont be spoiled by wrong people who helm most of the FA around the country.