FA of Malaysia (FAM) president Sultan Ahmad Shah has had enough with the repeated failures of the national team and has promised that drastic action will be taken to arrest the never-ending slide. Sultan Ahmad Shah intends to speak his mind at the FAM exco meeting and the state FAs can expect an earful. "I have had enough and I am going to make drastic changes when the exco meets. I have been taking criticism for far too long and I have never complained. I love football and that is why, for the last 24 years, I've been here," said...

HE is under fire but national coach B. Sathianathan is not backing away from his criticism of the M-League. His "M-League is no football" statement has irked many in the FA of Malaysia but Sathianathan, who could well lose his job, made no apologies in the aftermath of Malaysia's 5-0 thrashing by the United Arab Emirates in an Asian Cup qualifier on Wednesday. Sathianathan did, though, try to explain his real reason for the remark. "When I said that M-League is no football, I meant that teams and coaches must demand more from the players. We (the national team) can't...

THE unexpected did not happen as the tie went according to the script and Malaysia were thrashed 5-0 by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their opening 2011 Asian Cup qualifying match at the KLFA Stadium yesterday. UAE started slowly but once they got into their groove, there was no way Malaysia were going to deny them the winning start they desperately wanted after their Gulf Cup exit. Though some 5,000 actually made their way to the stadium, it would have been hard to find more than the hardcore who expected Malaysia to open their qualifying campaign on a winning note....

BARRING objections, K. Rajagopal is set to be given the responsibility of guiding the national Under-23 football team for the Laos Sea Games in December. The recommendation for Rajagopal to be given the job will be made by the technical sub-committee the FA of Malaysia formed following the senior team's failure to make the Asean Championship semi-finals last month. There were 10 applicants for the post, including former Thailand and Indonesia national Peter Withe and UPB-MyTeam's Boyan Hodak, but Rajagopal's familiarity with the the players saw him getting the support of the sub-committee and the national team management committee has to...

ISMAIL Matter has earned the nickname `Asian Maradona' for his ball control, pace, resourcefulness and thunder bolt shots and the United Arab Emirates player will be out terrorise the unfit Malaysian team in the first leg of the 2011 Asian Cup Qualifiers at the KLFA Stadium tonight. Ismail, who wears the No 10 jersey, will be out for blood against Malaysia as he will want to prove his worth as one of the best players in Asia. And Malaysia's hopes of getting a good result dimmed after national coach B. Sathianathan revealed that only three out of his 18 charges...

NATIONAL striker Safee Sali isn't setting a high target for the Asian Cup qualifier against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) tomorrow - all he wants is a fighting performance from Malaysia. UAE, who arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, are licking their wounds after being eliminated from the Gulf Cup and Safee expects a backlash, especially as they were the defending champions. "It is not going to be an easy match as we will be up against one of the best teams in the Middle East," said the Selangor striker. Safee said the short training stint would also make it...

FORMER Perak players Carlos Caceres, Jorge Nunoz and Mario Bario (left), who featured for Perak in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, have written to Fifa seeking the world body's assistance to help claim a combined total of US$54,000 (RM186,000) owing to them in salaries by the Perak FA. The Chilean trio have waited for about four months since writing to the FA of Malaysia and have not received a reply. The FA of Malaysia said that it's is not its fault since it is the Perak Football Association (PFA) who owe the money. But where Fifa is concerned it only...

KEDAH coach Azraai Khor is refusing to panic despite the situation his team are in. The treble champions only have one point to show after four matches, are second from bottom in the standings and staring at potential relegation. The forced departure of their foreign legion has hit them badly but Azraai is confident Kedah will rediscover the sting that saw them win back-to-back trebles. The first team to do a double treble are struggling simply because the strikers are raw and Azraai can only hope that his strikers Khyril Muhymeen and Badrol Bakhtiar will find the net soon. "One...

KL Plus FC moved to the top of the Malaysian Super League (MSL) with a 3-1 win over Penang at the KLFA Stadium last night. Mat Zan Mat Aris' boys pressured the visitors from the start, with Bobby Gonzales' long range effort testing Penang goalkeeper Mohd Faizal Mohd Yusof in the 17th minute. KL Plus drew first blood through Nuradli Pauzee in the 38th minute but their joy was short-lived as Penang equalised in stoppage time through Mohd Idzuan Halim's header from a S.Jeganathan freekick. Two minutes into the second half Gonzales, who was a thorn in the side of...

ENGLISH Premier League and European champions Manchester United will be in Kuala Lumpur for their pre-season tour in July. The dates have yet to be finalised. Fans of the Red Devils, who were deprived of seeing their team in action two years ago because their visit clashed with the Asian Cup, will be able to catch their stars in action this time around. In 2007 the United tour was called off because the Asian Football Confederation was adamant that no foreign team should be playing when the Asian Cup was being held in Asia. Despite United's visit being supported by the...