By John Bunyan
The question now is what went wrong? Was it due to the players' motivation? Home ground pressure? Coaches underestimating the tournament after beating Tajikistan 6- 2 in the first game?
Just like any other football fan, I want my national team to win trophies, whether it is the Bangabandhu Cup or The World Cup.
However, it was instead a usual scene in Malaysian football, as our youth side failed to qualify for the next round of U-16 AFC Championship after losing 2-0 to Japan in the final group match.
The lost also shattered Malaysia's dream to qualify for the semi-final, where reaching the semis would earn passage to the U-17 World Cup next year in Peru.
The youngsters started their campaign well, beating Tajikistan convincingly 6-2 in their opener.
However, the loss against Thailand 4-2 in the second match was costly as they need to get the maximum points out of the strong Japanese side.
Malaysia displayed a stunning performance in the first quarter of the game. They showed discipline, created several chances and looked spirited during that quarter.
Japanese defence was made to work, and at one point opponents had their hand on knees chasing the energetic Malaysian players.
We were putting up a great fight against a robust Asian side. I was mightily impressed with our youngster, and I felt the future was bright for Malaysian football. However, the joy lasted only for about 20 minutes.
The players started to make rash decisions, released the ball too fast, playing long balls and committed lots of individual mistakes.
Japan took advantage of the situation and Shoji Toyama punish the poor Malaysian defence in the 37th minutes. The goal was enough to boost the Japanese confidence, and after that goal, they looked comfortable and were only waiting to capitalise on another Malaysian mistake.
Echoes of "Bangun Kembali" (Rise again) was heard throughout the stadium. Malaysia head coach Lim Teong Kim was rallying his troops and always told them to play their game. It was evident that he wanted this victory real bad.
Malaysia tried to stage a comeback, but the Japanese players were in control and Hikaru Naruoka’s goal in the stoppage time sealed their win. Dreams dashed but fans were happy with the youngsters' contribution. At the end of the day, they are a bunch of 16-year-olds who will only become better in the future playing the sport they love.
Three hours after the match, everyone was shocked by the news of head coach Lim Teong Kim sacked by the FA of Malaysia (FAM) as they could not reach the target to qualify for the semis.
To understand whether the decision to sack the former Bayern Munich youth trainer is right or wrong, we have to go back to from where it all began.
The youngsters who represent the national team are from the National Football Development Programme (NFDP), which was established in 2014 and Lim was appointed as the project director and head coach.
NFDP is still a fresh programme, and it is too early to blame the coach and the project.
Former Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin tweeted that the youngsters were among the first batch of the programme. The boys deserve more time to adapt to bigger tournaments.
Judging them from the U-16 AFC Championship alone would not be an appropriate decision, the team should be given time until they turn18.
It was a harsh decision to sack Lim. FAM should have waited until the players under him are fully matured and then judge based on their performances. After all, the whole idea of the programme is to produce good senior players not just being prime in their youths.
In 2015, Lim was quoted in The Star Online saying that the programme aims to put Malaysia on par with Asia’s best sides.
“I am convinced we will be as good as the Japanese and Koreans, but we have to be patient.
“We need players with good social values, character, leadership, winning mentality, mental strength, fast technique, tactical awareness and good physical fitness.
“These are qualities that will separate the wheat from the chaff,” said Lim.
You will not see instant results in development projects. To expect this program to blossom in three or five years time is a farfetched idea. The qualities which Lim mentioned above requires patience and determination. Remember, Rome was not built in a day.
Appointing a new coach will have a massive impact on the whole system, and they need to start back from scratch.
However, again NFDP set the target to reach the semis to qualify for the U-17 World Cup. That is a disappointment.
The question now is what went wrong? Was it due to the players' motivation? Home ground pressure? Coaches underestimating the tournament after beating Tajikistan 6- 2 in the first game?
The coach is responsible for this, but that doesn’t mean that sacking is the only solution. I hope NFDP will not cut him loose and it is best if they revise his salary and listen to him before making any decision.
Certain quarters have deemed the people behind NFDP as arrogant, and it is not surprising to see knives aimed at the brains behind NFDP when the U-16 team got knocked out of the group stages. Right now, NFDP needs to take a real good look at itself and see what it can do to improve Malaysia football.
At the moment, we do not want the Youth and Sports Ministry to disband NFDP, doing so would affect 20,000-odd footballers and 1,000 over coaches under the National Football Development Programme (NFDP)
The ideas and DNA behind the program are excellent but what more can be done to ensure that we have a bigger pool of talented and professional players in our country? Some football associations in our country have lambasted the program, but they fail to realise that they have not done much for Malaysian football development.
We do not want kids from this program to be affected. I still believe that they are able, but they need to improve on their mental strength and technique. Fans cannot be expecting wonders from them immediately. Maybe it is time we learn from the east by being patient and humble. At the moment, arrogance and quick solutions will bring us nowhere.
They are young teenagers who have lots of time to learn. Let's not bog them with lofty ambitions.
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