So Malaysia is out of the Asian Cup.  Our home fans are pissed and disappointed. Malaysian coach Norizan Bakar has been sacked.  FAM Deputy President Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah has resigned.  And our Sports Minister wants to see sweeping changes in our soccer organization.  By this time next year, all will be forgotten.  Malaysian football will still be where it is today.  Bolehland mentality mah.  The only thing that will be changed is our National team jersey!

But seriously, am I the only one who thought Malaysia had absolutely no chance of making it through the next round?  Come on, we’re in the same group with Iran, Uzbek and China!  Teams with some European based players that play in some of the top leagues.  Teams that follow strict diets, not nasi lemak or roti canai for breakfast.  The bottom line is we’re not good enough.

My dad used to play for the Selangor B team so I was exposed to Malaysian football at a very young age.  I can clearly tell you back then our football was darn exciting.  Every young kid wanted to be like Mokhtar Dahari, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, "The Spiderman" Arumugam, Shukor Salleh, Hasan Sani, James Wong and many more local footballers.  I used to bully all the smaller kids in my taman by dribbling past them while also commentating myself, "Mokhtar Dahari mengelejek satu… mengelejek dua…ohh, melepasi pemain terakhir….OHH GOOOLL!!! Sungguh cantik jaringan yang dilakukan of Mokhtar Dahari!!".

I can also tell you those days, my dad and his mates would bring me along to Stadium Merdeka to support Malaysia whenever they played.  Those days the supporters booed the linesman or the referee, not the players.  "Woi! Linesman kayukah!", "Woi, lu baca surat khabar ka apa?", "Ref, balik rumah tidor lah!".  Ahhh…nostalgic man.  These days it’s quite different.  The recent 3 matches that I bought tickets to were Malaysia against Arsenal, MU and Brazil.  In each of those matches, the support for the visiting team was far greater.  I know all the players from the visiting team but only one player from the Malaysian team.  So of course I supported the visiting teams as well.

In the match against China, the local crowd came in full force to support our local boys.  It was the first game, they came with high hopes but half way through, the boos and cursing already started.  

I was also quite amused by an interview conducted by a local TV station with two former national players, right before Malaysia’s match with China. The first "expert" said that Malaysia could beat China or get a draw.  He believed Malaysia, with strong home support could, in his own words, "DO IT! MALAYSIA BOLEH!".  The second "expert" said that China was too strong for Malaysia.  They have better players, are physically stronger and have greater fitness compared us.  When asked what the score would be, he answered "Malaysia satu China kosong".  Whatlah!  After sounding like a real expert.  Can only happen in Bolehland.  You can probably get better opinions from your local mamak stalls.

All the foreign pundits predicted China will come out tops.  The only pundits who said Malaysia will get something from the game are pundits from Malaysia.  I know lah, Malaysia Boleh mentality mah.  But please lar, have to stop using Malaysia Boleh for every single thing lah. Climb mountain, Malaysia Boleh.  Go outer space, Malaysia Boleh.  Sometimes have to use "Malaysia Gua akan Cubalah".