World Cup 2018 Pt.2

We need to get a little perspective on this World Cup from a certain Nationalistic point of view.

Let’s look at some population figures for Nations of the World:

         Iceland     334,252

         Uruguay   3.44 Million

         Panama    4.034 Million

         Tunisia     11.4 Million

         Australia  24.13 Million

         Malaysia   31.19 Million

         Morocco   35.28 Million

Just a ‘random’ selection. What do they all have in common?

Two things:

1.           They all love football.

2.           They all qualified for the World Cup in 2018*.

*Oh, except for Malaysia.

Japan and South Korea qualified from Asia. Saudi Arabia and Iran qualified from Asia, too. 

Senegal qualified from Africa – they are not known as a great footballing Nation and yet…

Where is the excuse for Malaysia? Thailand have a better record as does Indonesia. Even Singapore that is more noted for its expertise in money launderi… er… economics than it is in sport is better at football than Malaysia and yet Malaysians love football.

Where are they when it comes to World Cup qualifying?

The United States still harbours ideas of having Baseball or American Football as a World sport; their devotion to soccer is illusory at best although the MLS is gradually gaining momentum. Yet the USA does better in World Cup qualification than many ‘Football Mad’ countries.

This time Paraguay and Ecuador are not represented. Mexico, of course, are in Russia but nobody expects Belize or Puerto Rico to join in.

Colombia is riddled with crime and drugs but they are with us.

Why is Malaysia not represented?

Perhaps because the organisation of football in Malaysia is haphazard and cursed with cronyism. Maybe the players have no enthusiasm for the big game or they are expecting to have Indonesians or Bangladeshis to be hired to do the work for them?

It is true that we do not see football academies here. We see, locally, the Kuala Lumpur Football Club practising near my home but we do not see youth players. Relying on the National Sports Training Complex at Bukit Jalil is not enough. Their structure is too limited for each individual sport.

The State and League Clubs have to pitch in and work with the youngsters just as West Ham, Chelsea, Manchester United do in UK. 

Having a small population is no excuse as we see from the figures above.

Next time I want to see Zambia and Kenya take part. I expect to see Indonesia or Thailand qualify.

Malaysia? A nice dream that is just not going to happen until somebody takes the game – especially at grass roots, by the scruff of the neck and shakes some sense into it.