Rajagopal, Don't Be A Jaguh Kampung!

After the Malaysian team managed to beat Indonesia 2-0 last night to qualify for the semi-final of the on-going AFF Suzuki Cup tournament, coach Rajagopal came out to say that he was not concerned about what his critics had to say about his team (Star Sport 3 Dec 2012)

He was quoted by Star Sport to have said

At the end of the day I've no regrets because I'm happy to have done something for Malaysian football

I want to remind Rajagopal not to count the chicken before it is hatched. We have not won the tournament yet.

And even if we eventually manage to retain the Cup, the AFF Suzuki Cup is only a mosquito tournament.

Show us that we are champions at the Asian level. And show us that consistently.

At a time when both Japan and South Korea, whom we used to consistently beat in the past, qualify regularly not only for the Olympics but also for the Fifa World Cup finals, we are only content to gloat over village level achievement like winning the Sea Games tournament and the AFF Suzuki Cup.

And while I am at it, what kind of a venue is the Bukit Jalil Stadium? The pitch is so bad and bouncy that the ball often imitates Psy doing gangnam. How can you play football in this disgraceful condition!

The state of the Bukit Jalil Stadium pitch is symptomatic of the state of Malaysian football.

Not only are we unable to get out of the football rut, we can't even maintain a stadium pitch well enough for decent football to be played.

Rajagopal, stop being a jaguh kampung and being proud of it!