Sunday, June 12, 2011

Kelate vs Ganu - A neutral's perspective

I am not one following football.

Malaysian football scene that is.

It does not provide me with a sense of excitement. Not in the way the English Premier League does.

Both leagues are skill-less, but at the very least the English Premier League is fast and furious, and hence it provides non-stop actions.

So, while I was yawning at Malaysian football, the FA Cup with two east coasts states vying for the trophy caught my attention. I spent five years in one state while a teenager, and another five in the other state while in my early twenties, so I thought I should watch it.

While I do have affinities for both states, I have no preference for one, so it should be an occasion with no stress or pressure for me.

Ok, ok, may be I have a slight preference for M Karathu as a favourite coach of mine since he was the coach for Perak in 1990 when Perak beat Selangor 4-2 after trailing 2-0. That was perhaps the last thrilling match in an FA Cup final.

But to be honest, I did not see any excitement at all during the match. It was a slow as tortoise as a match if one were to compare to the Premier League's pace. I did not see anything that would make me sit up and glued to the telly.

High leg and reckless tackles, two-footed lunge and wild shots.

That's all I can remember of last night's final.

OK may be the Kelantan's goal was a good lob, but that was about it.

Now if these were the two top teams in the Malaysia at this moment, I think we should all pray very hard.

We certainly have no future in football.

On the other hand, I am disappointed with the Kelantan state government for declaring Sunday as a public holiday in Kelantan. For what, I must ask.

There goes millions of ringgit of revenue and productivity for the Malaysian economy.

If you wish to travel from KB to KL to watch the game, you should be taking leave from your annual leave. For the sake of 40,000 fans who have saved a day off of the annual leave, another half million productive workers were asked to stay at home and do nothing.

Oh boy. I cringe when I heard that.

In some sense I am glad that Kelantan are not going to get the treble this year, though I do hope that they will win the league (for Karathu's sake).

I think acres of land in Kelantan will be given away to the players and trips to Europe and millions will be spent for the jaguh kampung. If this persists, then soon we will run out of state lands to give away!

I am really averse to spoiling our sportsmen for mediocre achievement i.e. those not achieved at the world stage. I wonder how many thousand of acres of land the Ganu government will give away now.

Anyway, let me get back to my afternoon nap.

Good night and congratulations Ganu.

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