My Team or Their Team?

KUALA LUMPUR: I was watching the TV3 8pm news tonight (8/6/07) and one of the news bulletin (sports) was about Myteam programme in Indonesia.

I believe this is taking our supposed kinship with the Indonesians to the extreme.

According to its "WHAT started as purely an entertaining and fun project has become a serious endeavour for Khairy Jamaluddin and his team.
MyTeam began as a reality show to unearth new football talents nationwide. Today, the fledgling MyTeam has garnered support from many quarters. They have teamed up with UPB and have already made an early impact in the M-League. "

Now for the second season of the reality show, they have set-up Myteam Indonesia. Huh! Arent we are supposed to get unearth our very own football diamonds?

In the 70s, we were among the top football teams in Asia. We were on par with the South Koreans, Saudi and Iran.

Since the last 20 years, however, we have been in the dumps, even losing to the Philippines. Every one including me is in despair over our football team performance.

I think most has given up hope that a Malaysian team will ever repeat the performances of the 70s team that they had adopted English Premier League teams as their favourite.

The matter have gone so bad that they even risked Malaysian football being banned by FIFA and AFC over the Manchester United Asia tour, claiming it is just a matter of tourism.


And now this Myteam Indonesia venture. What do they expect to get? Having a bunch of Indonesians beating us in our soil using our money? Ah, its just a reality show they will say and Indonesia is our kin.

Don't they realised the Indons have been whooping our behind in badminton for the last 50 years and their footballers have been trying to do that in the last 20 years?
And they want to find their rough diamonds?

Those who thought of this venture must certainly forgotten what a Scottish coach once said to embark on this blue-ob-blue mission.

What was the advice? "Football is not a matter of life and death. Its more important than that.