ALOR SETAR, 18 Dec 2017:
National football players are reminded not to be easily influenced by the foreign football culture of reward and instead put their soul and patriotism while playing for the country, said a respected former national football player.
Muhamad Radhi Mat Din, 53, said the spirit of patriotism was declining as a handful of national players were more concerned about reward than the pride of donning the national jersey.
The Kedah-born midfielder, who represented the country from 1986 to 1993, said this was in contrast to the players during his time – who had indomitable spirit in making their team a success.
“Our sporting spirit was so deep that we played with great enthusiasm and felt immense satisfaction when our teams won. We were instilled with patriotism to bring the glory to the country, and not just for the money.
“However, not all current players have that attitude,” said the former Kedah team captain.
Radhi was in the national team who won the silver medal at the 1987 SEA Games in Jakarta and the gold medal at the 1989 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.
Another former national footballer, Khamal Idris Ali, 48, said players should feel proud and patriotic when they are selected to play for the country as not all players get the opportunity to don the Malaysian jersey.
“It was such a huge responsibility to represent the country that motivated us to fight with all of our might. When we finally won, the feeling was just indescribable, on top of overwhelming support from the fans.
“For today’s players, it is not that they don’t have enough patriotism as they have tried their best but perhaps their ability was just that much, so we should not belittle their patriotism.”
Khamal was a former defender for the national squad from 1993 to 1996 and played for the Kedah team from 1987 to 2000,
On Nov 25, Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim expressed his disappointment over the attitude of some national players and under-23 squad players who were concerned about rewards than anything else.
Khamal, who is also a member of the Kedah Football Association (KFA) executive council, said football has changed a lot in terms of the technology and the sophistication of the game itself.
“The current game focuses more on faster moves. Football is very modern that it is possible to carry out a study to determine the players’ suitability in their position on the field.”
He added that the hiring of foreign coaches to train a team did not indicate local coaches were not good enough – as they have both advantages and disadvantages.
His sentiment was echoed by Radhi, former assistant coach of Kedah from 2004 to 2013, who acknowledged local football coaches have the skills to handle a team, on par with foreign coaches.
“Public perception of local coaches needs to be changed. If the local coaches do not have the skills to guide the team, then we need to send them to acquire the necessary skills rather than hire foreign coaches.”
Radhi said Tan Cheng Hoe, Muhammad Nidzam Adhza Yusoff and Dollah Salleh were among the best local coaches and able to guide their respective teams to achieve success.
– Bernama