Negara.

Amazing what one trophy win does for a country's mentality. I remember this time eight years ago Malaysia lost to Hong Kong in the first round of WC pre-qualifying. The last few years have been humiliating, yet somehow the team recovered the confidence necessary to win the AFF Cup, and suddenly the future looks bright.

I can guarantee that a previous coach would have said something like "We cannot take Taiwan lightly, they are dangerous, etc.". Instead we have reached the point where we can talk optimistically about winning games, instead of falling into the usual pessimism. They still can't take games forgranted, of course, and games against Singapore are never easy, aging foreigners or not, but for the first time in a very, very long while, we have genuine hope. They won't reach the WC [it's just too soon], but they'll put up a good fight and make the country proud, which at this point is what Malaysian fans want more than anything else.

Dari sini.


Banyak benarnya. Satu trofi, mengubah mentaliti pemain Malaysia. That's a very good thing to hear.