For football fans in Southeast Asia, watching live football matches on TV usually means catching games late at night, when games in Europe would kick-off for the afternoon matches. It gets even better if we want to catch the night game; 8:30 p.m. kick-offs in England, for instance, would guarantee the Filipino fan a 2:30 a.m. football fix.

The lost sleep pales in comparison, however, to the costs needed to catch your favourite team in action live on the pitch. An intercontinental flight and a huge amount of money spent are surely in the cards for the most passionate of fans.

Thus, when English football giants Liverpool FC, Arsenal Football Club and Chelsea Football Club announced its plans to visit Kuala Lumpur as part of its pre-season training schedule, football fans from all over Southeast Asia, including this writer, wasted no time in making the trek to the Malaysian capital post-haste.

Team on the rise

 

Kuala Lumpur was an obvious choice, because Malaysian football is on the ascendancy in Southeast Asia. Having recently lifted the ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup for the first time in its history last December, the future is bright for the Harimau Malaya, with most members of the team just entering their primes.

Make no mistake: Malaysia’s national men’s football team is still on the rise, and with a definite football support behind them.

The Bukit Jalil National Stadium in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur is a shining testament to that support. A centerpiece of the Malaysia’s National Sports Complex, it has a capacity to seat 80,000 fans. Against Liverpool Football Club on Monday, all 80,000 seats and more would be taken.

En route to the stadium, the atmosphere was electric. For some Malaysians, love for Liverpool Football Club would be pitted against love for country. In fact, national team coach Datuk Rajagobal had earlier requested Malaysians to don the blue jerseys as a sign of support for the team, but this appeal clearly fell on deaf ears.  Arguably 95% of the stadium were clad in red or black, all colours of the storied team from Merseyside.

As early as three hours before kick-off, fans started occupying seats, unfurling banners and taking pictures. Outside the stadium, thousands of people soaked in the atmosphere, milling about the makeshift stalls selling food and merchandise.

Adidas, the outfitter for LFC, probably registered huge sales leading up to the game, but they were surely no match for those selling cheaper “class A” jerseys who made even bigger sales on the day.

Sea of red

 

There was a huge cheer for the Malaysian national team as they went through their warm-ups, but the loudest ovations undoubtedly were for Liverpool. When the speakers blared the club’s anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” over the speakers, majority of the 80,000 strong fans let their voices be heard. Caught up in the moment, there will be few dry eyes left among them.

Blanketed by a sea of red shirts, the game kicked off amid chants of ‘Li-ver-pool! Li-ver-pool!’ and the incessant pulsating beat of drums, punctuated by air horns piercing the afternoon sky.

Even without manager and Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish and key members of the team, including captain Steven Gerrard, striker Luis Suarez and starting goalkeeper Pepe Reina, Liverpool was the overwhelming favorite for this friendly.

In the first half of the game, however, Malaysia proved to be no pushovers as they held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw with an unstoppable free kick from skipper Shafiq Rahim cancelling out new boy Charlie Adam’s penalty for Liverpool.

Liverpool would eventually stamp its class in the second half with cool finishing and excellent tactical awareness to win by a score of 6-3

Tune-up matches

 

For the Harimau Malaya, this was no ordinary friendly match. These series of games were to serve as their its tune-up for the real test which awaited them against Singapore on July 23 and 28, in the second round of qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

One cannot help but compare their case with that of our own Azkals. Malaysia had the opportunity to play at home against the Gunners, the Reds and the Blues as part of their preparations, whilst the Azkals have to travel 16 hours to Germany to take on football superpowers FC Ingolstadt and Bonner SC for their preparations against Sri Lanka back in the first round of qualifiers. Indeed, the Philippines still has a long way to go as a footballing country.

Judging by Malaysia’s performance against the English Premier League favorites, they will be favorites to advance against Singapore, with captain Rahim and star striker Safee Sali both earning lavish praise from LFC stand-in coach Steve Clarke after the game.

But on Monday, it was the fans who were the true winners. Treated to a nine goal haul from both teams, they cheered for both teams all game long. Chants by the capacity crowd of “Li-ver-pool” were followed by the roar of “Malaysia!” after every half-chance from the home team.

One of the numerous banners unfurled in the stadium read “Malaysia by Birth, Kop by Choice”, in reference to The Kop in Anfield, where Liverpool plays. Malaysia showed that it could cheer for both their birth right and their choice.

No booing the national team

 

It was touching to see that while majority of fans donned the red jersey of Liverpool, deep in their heart of hearts, they know they will not turn against the team representing the country of their birth.

Coming from Manila where the home crowd booed the SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team when they played an exhibition match against Kobe Bryant, it was indeed a welcome change. Malaysians showed that you can still support your own national team even while rooting for sporting idols from abroad. There is no need for negativity; there is no excuse for booing your own national team.

Another banner unfurled at the stadium read: “Mabuhay LFC” and had “LFC PHL” under the liver bird. This was made especially for this occasion by passionate Filipino Liverpool fans for the Reds’ trip to KL.

Manila as a football destination?

 

It is my sincere wish and hope that one day, club teams from Europe will want to come here in Manila and play our national side and we may, soon, unfurl a similar banner in Panaad or in Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. Many things need to happen before that will materialize, however.

The need for a bigger stadium is on top of the list. The recent disappearance of tickets for the July 28 home match against Kuwait one hour after its ‘release’ proves that there is demand for seats, and a bigger stadium will able to provide that. Facilities for media and spectators will have to be upgraded to international standards as well.

With the rise of Philippine football, it may not be inconceivable for the likes of Liverpool FC to visit us in their next Asian Tour in 2013. But, we certainly have to be ready for it. The good news is that the developments in the last eight months in Pinoy football have certainly helped us move in the right direction.

source: Ryan Fenix, InterAKTV's