If you're missing football...

[Bill_Oddie]

Today is the Malaysian FA Cup Final and it's set to be a humdinger.

Last season Kelantan won the treble in Malaysia. Coach Bojan Hodak had a great team, playing decent football. Then over the summer the board sold six of his best players (in his own words "well, five who were my best and one who had a bad attitude and I wanted rid of anyway"). Most were bought by a team that came about when the Prince of Johor (Malaysia's southern state, next door to Singapore) created a new franchise from two existing Johorean teams. Being obscenely rich he then signed players including Dani Guiza and various other former internationals. I have very strong ITK that next season this side - Johor Darul Taksim - will line up with Nicolas Anelka and Pablo Aimar. they're like the Man City of Malaysia.

Anyway, Johor DT signed all these Kelantan players and so Kelantan have struggled this season, they look likely to finish about sixth in the twelve team league. Johor DT are third and may yet snatch the title - in a fiercely competitive league campaign a Singapore invitation team may win the league (think Scotland U23s winning the Premier League!).

So today is the FA Cup Final and fittingly Kelantan, the holders, face Johor Darul Taksim. It'll be an amazing atmosphere as it's taking place in a full-house of 100,000+ in the Bukit Jalil Stadium. There'll be drums, flares, songs, and a fierce rivalry for two sides desperate to win.

Basically, everything you want from the FA Cup, but which these days the Budweiser-sponsored tournament so abjectly fails to deliver.

So, if you're missing football this summer, do yourself a favour and find a way of watching a proper Cup Final at 1.45pm today. It may be pretty ordinary technically but it's bloody entertaining and the atmosphere will be immense. You may also (seeing as I'll be about a foot taller than anyone else in the stadium) see me in the crowd.

Malaysia Boleh!

 

[JerryGarcia]

If they're the Malaysian Man City, I wonder if they'd give us £30m for Adebayor? They'd need to go for Craig Belamy too and then bin him after a year.

I'll try to find a way of watching this later, not seen Aimar play for a while but can take or leave Anelka

 

[Dougal]

While Kelantan sounds a bit like my name, Anelka is an anagram of my name. I've got split loyalties.

 

[dk-yid]

I wonder what channel this will be on ....

 

[Hoopspur]

Can't find it listed on my usual dodgy streams.

Anyway 5.00 today will be Egypt v England in the U20's. Think I'll have a look at Harry Kane again. Last match though it was Pritchard that made a great difference when he came on. Kane scored though.

 

[nightgoat]

I wonder what channel this will be on ....

Is it not on Grandstand?

 

[Bill_Oddie]

Well, that was fucking mental.

In a stadium that holds 100,000, there were 150,000 easy. We never got close to a seat. Every entrance had people six rows deep and people hanging off the barriers all round the stadium, plus fans inside the barriers but stood out in the walkways outside the stadium itself. I was pressed into various people and had quite a few using me as a stand to lean on and jump against. Frightening, really.

But what an atmosphere. It was electric. When Kelantan took the lead, it went nuts. Somehow 'we' held on and deservedly held on to 'our' FA Cup. I've never watched football like it. Johor fans, to their immense credit, carried on clapping throughout, a sea of blue, all working in unison, remarkable. Kelantan meanwhile were there in even greater numbers and I took great pleasure in chanting "Gomo Kelate Gomo" with them (basically: Score more, Kelantan, score more). They also seemed to love having a few white blokes in there and welcomed my shouts of "Who the fuckin' 'ell are you?" to Johor DT. Sadly my efforts with "Where were you when you were shit?" and "He eats what he wants" at portly JDT attacker Leonel Nunez fell on deaf ears. Mind, it was a busy stadium.

In short, a night to live long in the memory. I'm chuffed to bits for my mate Bojan and made plenty of new friends. A proper football night out.

Gomo Kelate Gomo.

 

[Leo]

Just seen a couple videos in YouTube and it looks mental. Just added it to my games of footy I need to go to list!