Hopeful | #KaranganBolaSepak by Coach Datuk K. Rajagobal

We were fresh from our gold medal victory in the 2009 SEA Games for football. The boys; our coaching team and I were upbeat moving into the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 tourney in Jakarta, Indonesia. Coming back from our Asian Games stint in China we displayed some positive team play as a unit. We were drawn into the group which had Indonesia as the home team, Thailand, Laos, and us Malaysia.

The boys:

1. Khairul Fahmi Bin Che Mat
2. Mohd Sharbinee Allawee Bin Ramli
3. Mohd Sabre Bin Mat Abu
4. Mohd Faizal Bin Muhammad
5. Mohd Asraruddin Putra Bin Omar
6. Mohd Razman Bin Roslan
7. Khairul Helmi Bin Johari
8. Mahalli Bin Jasuli
9. Mohamad Muslim Bin Ahmad
10. Mohamad Fadhli Bin Mohd Shas
11. Safiq Bin Rahim
12. Amar Bin Rohidan
13. Mohd Khyril Muhymeen Bin Zambri
14. Gurusamy Govandar Kandasamy
15. Kunanlan Subramaniam
16. Mohd Amri Bin Yahyah
17. Mohammad Faizal Bin Abu Bakar
18. Mohd Amirulhadi Bin Zainal
19. Mohamad Ashari Bin Samsudin
20. Norshahrul Idlan Bin Talaha
21. Mohd Safee Bin Mohd Sali
22. Izzaq Faris Bin Ramlan

My coaching team:

Tan Cheng Hoe & Faozi Mukhlas

Playing Indonesia in our first match was never going to be easy but I was confident that my boys could bring us a positive result that night. This hopefulness is not blind fate but from the years of working with the boys since 2002; Matyo (Norsharul) getting us our first goal of the match and we lead Indonesia 0-1 in the 18th minute. Playing against Indonesia in the first match at the Gelora Bung Karno stadium jam-packed with their fans is not going to be an easy feat for the next 70 minutes or so. I don’t have to tell you how that match ended as we finished the match losing 5-1 to Indonesia that night our first match of AFF Suzuki Cup 2010.

I would love to know what you all felt as fans when we lost that match 5-1 to Indonesia.

Were you hopeful or felt hopeless?

As a coach, I was obviously down, devastated but it was never in me as the coach to lose hope in my team. To be fair I could not because of that night that moment that was no reason for me to have felt that way, even after losing 5-1. I have been working with these boys when most of them were 15, 16 and 17, I knew that they had it in them something special to step up to the test we had from the 5-1 rout we got. Speaking to Tan that night we went through the match and we concluded that as a team we did not play badly it was individual mistakes and we got hammered 5 to 1.

We still had two more matches as part of the group stage, I had to hold strong and show the boys a positive front so that they will be strong to step into our next game against Thailand in the tourney. I had to do what was necessary for terms of our psychology to rally the boys up for our next match against Thailand. Which I felt were the best team in the tourney and the tougher team amongst the others we had to face in the group. I will need to say thank you to the boys for fuelling hopefulness!! Because on the flip side the boys gave me the strength to believe that they could do it and that we are going to get up from the results of the first match. I made some changes in the line-up and that is where the choice of the blue jersey being our lucky colour throughout the tourney, maybe that will be another opportunity to explain that side story. God Bless we know how this story turnout in the end but the focus of my write up today is on how we might have lost hope in our first step into the tourney but never ever lost hope throughout your journey.

This story to me, showed me what a group of Malaysians could do as a team to achieve a common goal and to push ourselves to wake up from being beaten down to pushing ourselves all the way to create history.

Football to me at the national level on a philosophical note showed me in many instances throughout my career what we Malaysians can do if we believe each other, work together as a team and be hopeful to achieve our greatest possibility. The boys, my coaching team, and I carry the essence of every Malaysian in us when we represent Malaysia at any stage. We all certainly can continue pushing our boundaries as Malaysians in every area of our lives and also as a nation.

In these tough times facing a pandemic I really hope our nation gathers the strength of our team (our people) to work together to emerge victorious against the current pressing situation. Take good care everyone. Stay Safe Stay home Stay hopeful like we did that night at Gelora Bung Karno.

Note from padangbolasepak.com: During the Restriction Movement Order 2020 Malaysia to combat Covid19 - Padangbolasepak.com encourages you from home to write essays about our beloved game of football. Can be anything. Why you fell in love with it? Your first game watching or playing? Friendships forged? Etc. Stars the limit. ⁣
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500-1,000 / more words.⁣
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The objective is simple. Sharing the joy of football. Challenge you to write about the joy you may want to share. As well as keep you occupied and encourage to write. Provided that you have nothing else to do.⁣ Email us your essay with a photo attached at contact@padangbolasepak.com & we’ll post on the website as well on social media.⁣
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Thank you and take care brothers and sisters.