Champs!: Japan players celebrating with the trophy.
PETALING JAYA: The seeds of a domestic league spin-off have been planted following the resounding success of the second edition of the Asia 7s Football Championship.
The key takeaway of the four-day tournament at the EV Arena in Elmina here was for the Malaysian football fraternity to build on the opportunity to produce a similar concept for the domestic audience.
Malaysia 7s head coach Sulaiman Hussin, who brought his team into the semi-finals before they were defeated by eventual champions Japan, believes a seven-a-side league would complement the existing football eco-system.
“With a different set of rules and regulations that combine football and entertainment, I believe there is a future for a thriving domestic league for seven-a-side.
“As it is, the game is being played on a recreational basis but if we were to consider making it as part of the Malaysian football eco-system, an organised league is required.
“It must tag along with football variants such as futsal, beach football and women’s football,” said the Kuala Lumpur FA technical director.
His views were supported by Malaysia 7s skipper Razman Roslan, a former international-turned-pundit.
“Seven-a-side football demands the speed of thought of futsal and the technical and physical aspects of the11-a-side game.
“An organised league will be a platform to develop talent for 11-a-side and create opportunities for those sidelined from the mainstream game to play and enjoy another variant of football,” said Razman.
While Japan, India, Singapore and Brunei opted to field full-fledged seven-a-side footballers for the Asia 7s, Malaysia and the Philippines were happy to parade a mixed combination of former 11-a- side internationals with small-sided game specialists.
The Azkals, for example, boasted former Sarawak and PJ City attacker Mark Hartmann, supported by Daisuke Sato, Stephan Schrock and former Perak player Misagh Bahadoran – all ex-Filipino internationals.
Apart from Razman, Malaysia relied on Indra Putra Mahayuddin, Abdul Manaf Mamat, Fandi Othman and Amer Saidin.
The second edition of the Asia 7s Championship saw a Miran Kabe double ensuring Japan a 2-1 victory over the Philippines.
Played before a crowd of almost 1,000 at the artificial pitch located just beside the new shopping mall Elmina Lakeside Mall, the entertaining match was a fitting finale to a tournament featuring eight participating teams.
Malaysia and Hong Kong were the semi-finalists. Completing the eight-team line-up were India, Brunei, Singapore and Vietnam. Final: Japan 2 Philippines 1
Man of the match: Miran Kabe
Most valuable player: Masanori Abe
Goalkeeper of the tournament: Masaoki Nakamoto
ROLL OF HONOUR
