AS a supporter of Harimau Malaya, a nickname for our beloved national football team, it’s really a pleasure for me to know that our football players are being watched closely by some top Asian and European clubs.

Let’s take Nazmi Faiz for example, an 18-year-old boy from Lembah Keramat, Kuala Lumpur. Despite his young age and lack of experience in top league football, he successfully attracted enough attention from a football agent based in Singapore during his stints with Harimau Muda A in the S-League.

Then Beira-Mar, a first division club in Portugal, offered him a three-year contract after a week’s trial there. I realise that all this started after our football team won the 2010 Suzuki Cup in Jakarta, where our prolific striker Safee Sali’s tremendous performance saw him nominated as the top scorer of the tournament.

A few weeks later, many clubs especially from Indonesia offered him a lucrative contract. Safee chose Pelita Jaya, a Kerawang-based club after a series of negotiations.

We are even proud to see many talented young players playing beyond our league such as Tam Sheang Tsung (Shanghai Shenshua), S. Kumahraan and B. Sanjeet Dinesh (Cruzeiro) and Sean Gan Giannelli (Atletico Arrezo). The quality of the players must be a priority regardless of their origin.

This happened when Australian-born Brendan Gan joined Sabah FA after a successful stint with Sydney FC and White Eagles. Malaysian fans had high hopes of him being drafted for the national side, until his inconsistent performance in the Super League and FA Cup.

As a supporter, I still believe he can prove spectacular for the next season if he still remains in Malaysian football.

Recently, Irfan Fazail and Gary Steven Robbat had a chance of a trial with Hamburg, a Bundesliga team in Germany. Perhaps they can bring glory to us and mark a new dimension in Malaysian football.

Looking at our players in the local league and even overseas being of different races, it’s not impossible for us to have a 1Malaysia Football Team in the future capable of winning major trophies.

Perhaps we can “reproduce” many players such as Mokhtar Dahari, R. Arumugam, Soh Chin Aun and Santokh Singh. Lastly, the Football Association of Malaysia must keep monitoring team members for any disciplinary problems.

Throughout the years, our national football team has really shown positive improvements in all aspects. Keep roaring Harimau Malaya!

MOHD NAJMI BIN HARITH
Seremban

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