Malaysia Super League 2014: Selangor Finally On Top (Pahang 0-1 Selangor)

Selangor got the top spot in the league table after dispensing an extraordinary home annihilation to Pahang at Darulmakmur.

MSL’s greatest match of the season yet was played recently between league leaders and home side Pahang and second-placed Selangor.

Both groups went into the match level on points, and required to win keeping in mind the end goal to detach themselves with whatever remains of the pack.

The Elephants were the all the more persuading side from the whistle, and practically discovered the opener through their forward, Matias Conti's attempt following Azmi Muslim’s mistake. Anyhow his shot at the 13th minute mark of the game was palmed away easily by Red Giants goalkeeper, Farizal Marlias.

With their Brazilian forward Paulo Rangel stamped from the get go by Pahang, Selangor infrequently went ahead and put something aside for a sprinkling of runs from their winger Andik Vermansyah. By the 23rd minute, Pahang have had six corner kicks while the visitors had none.

Previous Selangor player, Azidan Sarudin verged on scoring in the 26th minute from a freekick taken at the edge of the penalty box after R. Gopinathan was fouled, yet his attempt could just brush the top of the Selangor bar.

The first half ended with 0-0 on both sides.

Four minutes later after the second half had started; Azidan again undermined the Selangor goal from outside the box, this time through an on-the-run strike after being teed up by Dickson Nwakaeme. Too bad, he missed the upper right corner by a couple of anguishing millimetres.

However against the run of play, the visitors finally discovered the opening goal during the 65th minute mark of the game. A sudden push ahead that was impelled by Andik, was done independent from anyone else after he was released by Rangel in the Pahang box opening the ball past goalkeeper, Nasril Nourdin.

However Pahang were not behind for the need of shots. They had various chances, yet their forward Nwakaeme and Conti were not on their top form.

In the withering minutes of the match, Nwakaeme had an opportunity to discover the equalizer through a free header, yet his header headed over.

The match was finally sealed by Selangor into 1-0.

Selangor was able to surpass Pahang to go on top through the win. The thrashing was additionally Pahang's first home annihilation since June 2013.

Singapore S. League: Albirex Niigata Put An End To Geylang’s Winning Streak

Geylang International's seven-game undefeated streak came to an end on Thursday evening after they were given a 4-2 annihilation by Albirex Niigata (S) at Jurong East Stadium.

Kazuki Sakamoto, Shuhei Hotta, Kazuya Okazaki and Kento Nagasaki carved their names onto the scoresheet while Fabian Kwok and Ridhuan Muhammad scored for the Eagles.

The White Swans took the driver’s seat through Kazuki Sakamoto as they took an early lead in the game.

Leonel Felice made a mis-pass to Kazuya while the midfielder perfectly laid a through ball into space for Sakamoto to lock on to. Protecting Joaquin Lopez away, the latter opened the ball into the bottom corner from 15 yards out.

However, it didn't take long for Geylang to force themselves to level and it was Kwok who only did that with his 50-yard marvel strike in the 32nd minute.

With the Eagles heaping the weight on the striking end, Albirex goalkeeper Kazuki Kishigami was compelled to make a clearance which fell consummately for Kwok.

The midfielder then splendidly struck the ball in mid-air as the ball cruised towards the goal and dipped past Kazuki.

The following half ended up being a more energizing than the first, as spectators were delighted with four more goals.

Afterwards, for the first time in the match, Geylang took the lead.

Kwok turned scorer-provider as he discovered Ridhuan in space for the skipper to place his finish past the hapless Kishigami.

Nonetheless, Albirex set themselves back into the game in under ten minutes through Shuhei. From a Keisuke Ota whipped cross down the right, the skipper executed a striker-esque's completion to impact it into the top corner from the six-yard box on the 54th minute.

The momentum suddenly shifted to Albirex from that point on and they soon recovered the lead in the 71st minute through Kazuya.

From the left, Itsuki Yamada heaved a cross in for the forward to volley into Joey Sim's palms, yet the force of the shot was so much it would have been impossible for the custodian to handle and bungled the ball and permitted it to move past the goal-line.

Nine minutes later, Kento then fixed the win for his side in the wake of setting the ball in the middle of the posts in a one-on-one attempt with Sim.

The Eagles had no possibility to get back and to intensify things, they were reduced to 10 men when Mustaqim Manzur gained marching orders for a second bookable offense in the 85th minute.

Finally, the last whistle was blown by the referee ending the thrilling match between Geylang and Albirex.

Malaysian Football: Tan Sri Annuar Musa Deemed That Naturalization Of Import Players Is Not Possible

Tan Sri Annuar Musa has voiced out his feeling as to naturalizing import players, stating that doing this might not tackle any issues in Malaysian Football.

The President of the Kelantan Football Association (KAFA) said there were no guiding principles from Malaysian immigration, nor from FIFA, that permits import players to play for their adopted nation.

While talking to Bernama, Annuar said, “The policies that we have does not allow any player with double citizenship to represent a particular country. Same goes with FIFA rules that stated that a player from his original country cannot represent another country.”

Annuar likewise expressed that regardless of the fact that a player chooses to turn into a perpetual inhabitant of the nation and gain citizenship, the player must experience five years of cooling period before they can represent the nation.

Annuar also stated that, “The best way is to identify talent at the young age and groom them to become better players.”

In spite of a numerous amounts of foreign nationals representing Malaysia in different sports, it is unrealistic to happen in football in light of the fact of the above mentioned guidelines.

The news of naturalization of import players softened up the nearby football scene when Goal Malaysia began a survey, with most Malaysians concurring that Selangor hot-shot Paulo Rangel ought to gain citizenship and play for the Malayan Tigers.

Johor Football Association News: A State-Of-The-Art Stadium On A Man-Made Island Is Rising

Expect greater things from Johor Football Association (Persatuan Bolasepak Negeri Johor) one year from now, including another stadium on a man-made island.

On Tuesday, President Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim reported that the new 50,000-capacity stadium is currently being constructed by Country Garden, which is one of JFA's sponsors.

According to President Tunku Ismail, the stadium will be built on a man-made island situated between Johor and Singapore.

“Reclamation work is currently being carried out and once completed, the island will be twice the size of Sentosa Island in Singapore.”

“Hopefully, the construction period will not take too long. I am very excited about this new project,” President Tunku Ismail said. He also added that the said stadium would be the most state-of-the-art stadium in the world.

President Tunku Ismail additionally declared that Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar has consented to purchase a private jet plane for the Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) officials and players.

He included that the choice came in the wake of looking into the expense of flying out to different states.

As of now, JFA have three transports for their teams including the President's Cup squad players.

It will also be noted that on Tuesday, President Tunku Ismail dropped a bomb by stating that the JFA's second group, which is JDT II, may be withdrawn from the Premier League.

“We are considering placing the team in the Singapore football league by November as it is better and will give the younger players better exposure,” President Tunku Ismail said.

The Johor Crown Prince included that the JFA are ready to pay a fine if the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) punish them for hauling out JDT II.

He likewise stated that JDT will be signing two more foreign players for next season's campaign.

He said, “We already offered US$3.5mil (RM11.4mil) to Boca Juniors for Juan Manuel Martinez for next season.”

Another player at the top of their mind is Selangor’s hitman, Paulo Rangel.

On another note, President Tunku Ismail said JFA are recognizing holding a benevolent match with Italian titans AC Milan and in addition a charity match including Lionel Messi, Neymar and other world class footballers.

Football Association of Malaysia Not In Favor Of Paulo Rangel’s Naturalization

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Vice President, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah announced his opposition towards the potential thought of naturalizing Selangor forward, Paulo Rangel.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has voiced out its supposition with respect to naturalization of foreign players by guaranteeing that the country isn't precisely prepared for that method.

Rumour has it with the Malaysian football fans that were sharp in seeing Selangor forward Paulo Rangel play for the national team.

Interim national team coach, Datuk Ong Kim Swee likewise pronounced his backing for the idea of naturalization. However, FAM has not shown enthusiasm in its materialization.

Tengku Abdullah said, "I'm not saying it’s impossible. Perhaps it can happen in future for a plethora of reasons; the person may have married a Malaysian or may even have a kid who is Malaysian."

"But I don't agree in taking a foreign player and offering him a Malaysian passport, despite him not having any form of connection with the country.”

"If he is extremely good, then perhaps we could consider. But he has to be extraordinary," Abdullah concluded.

The news came out after Rangel publicly proclaimed his eagerness to be part of the national team. The proclamation was posted on Rangel’s Instagram account.

Asean All-Stars Bola Sepak News: Singapore Trio Ishak, Harun And Sunny To Reperesent Singapore In A Charity Match

The Singapore trio will be part of the group to tackle Indonesia in an official charity match to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia on May 11.

Former LionsXII duo Shahril Ishak and Hariss Harun together with Warriors FC custodian Hassan Sunny have been chosen to represent Singapore in the Asean All-Stars side who are set to take Indonesia on May 11.

The charity match is expected to raise funds for the casualties of Typhoon Haiyan that struck the Philippines late last year.

The Singaporean trio will be joined by an assembly of stars from over the area with 10 AFF part countries giving players.

Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam have the most number of delegates while Hassan Sunny is one of just two goalkeepers rang for the match.

In spite of the fact that Piayong Pue-on was relied upon to lead the group, Malaysia national coach, K. Rajagobal will rather assume responsibility with the previous Thailand star being unavailable for the match.

The AFF had additionally targeted previous Singapore coach, Raddy Avramovic who is with Myanmar now; together with previous Thai coach Winfried Schaefer and previous Philippines coach Michael Weiss. Every one of the three was likewise unavailable.

Rajagobal told AFF.com, “We do not have a lot of time but being professionals I believe the players will all be ready for the match. This is more of an exhibition match and what’s important is that we put up a good entertaining football for the fans.

The bottom-line is that we want to contribute to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan.”

Indonesia in the interim has named a strong squad also to face the Asean All Stars.

“The match is very important to us. It is not just another game. We are playing against quality players which means they are very capable of playing a very good game and giving us a hard time,” Indonesia coach Alfred Riedl told AFF.

S.League News: Warriors FC Is Set To Bounce Back From Their Defeat

In spite of the 4-1 pounding by Home United in the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League match, Warriors FC coach, Alex Weaver accepted it was a one-off and that his charges were fit for a finer showing than what was conveyed against their uniformed opponents.

Indra Sahdan Daud struck twice after half-time to secure every one of the three points for the Bishan-based club after Hafiz Rahim offset Fazrul Nawaz's opener in the first-half.

Bruno Castanheira then took home the cake in second-half stoppage time to top off a noteworthy execution from Home.

Weaver said in an interview after the match that, “It is very disappointing and we are much better than that.

We stop doing certain things that allowed Home United a bit more space.”

“Our strongest 11 against theirs is better than what we saw tonight and it will be different the next time we play them.”

“Their midfield movement and penetration is very good. We did not deal with that in the second half. We will get back together, have a look at things and move on,” added Weaver.

Weaver was sure that his team won't be influenced by the annihilation and requested that his players relegate a finer execution in future matches.

“We are developing together and we have to rough with the smooth and bounce back from this, for sure.”

Weaver's inverse number Lee Lim Saeng was probably charmed with the win.

Lee whose team bounced back from a 4-1 defeat to Albirex Niigata (S) in the previous round said that, “My players deserved to win the match and I am very happy.”

“First half is not bad, we dominated possession but did not create as much chances as the second half.”

“We only played 10 matches in the league and there are still many matches. Every match is important for us,” Lee concluded.