Interview with Cikgu Jan

The Man with the Plan

Here we reproduce in verbatim, the translation from Bahasa Malaysia, the interview between Abdul Hafiz Ahmad (AA) from Mingguan Malaysian and the Malaysian National Football coach, Norizan Bakar (NB). Taken from Mingguan Malaysia:

AA: Why is Indra Putra Mahyuddin still called up even though he's only recently returning to real action and was shown to be ineffective even though against a team such as Cambodia?

NB: Each player in the Asian Cup squad are the best in Malaysia. I have confidence in them. I selected them after consulting with others, and judged them from their performances in the M League, in the friendlies we had in Sri Lanka and Australia earlier this year and in the AFF and Merdeka tournaments.

AA: The first game will be a huge challenge - facing the 2004 Asian Cup runners-up, China. What is the team's target and what do you hope the team will achieve?

NB: The last time we played against them was in 2004 in Penang (World Cup Qualifiers) and we only loss narrowly 0-1, so it shows our playing level with the opponent is not much different.

AA: The last time we qualified by merit was in 1980 in Kuwait. Would it be a great achievement and will it be your target to obtain more or less, the same result (only one point away from the semis)?

NB: I don't know because I was not involved with the national team at that time but to me, what is in the past let it be in the past (as history). This Asian Cup however is a big chance that we must seize because we have already qualified as one of the hosts. I consider this a mini World Cup. We will not look back again (after this).

AA: Malaysia lost 1 - 3 to UAE in the recent friendly last Thursday even though the visitors were not playing at their best. Your comment?

NB: We played against another team that will compete in the same Asian Cup tournament and I feel that this is the quality that we will face and it was good for us to experience it prior to the real thing. What was positive is that we learned to not lose focus and concentration even for a second or we will pay for it (like letting in 3 easy goals)

AA: Are you still experimenting with the squad or has the best first eleven been chosen after defeating Cambodia?

NB: We will try our best to find the combination we want but without any major changes. We getting there (building the team). There is still time before meeting Jamaica this (Thursday). The FA Cup is still not finished (with 12 national players playing for their respective states). Anything can happen in training after this. But whoever is representing the team, (I believe) they are the best for the match and based on any current conditions.