Tag: Manchester United

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Sports

[2885] It has been awhile Ajax, it’s been awhile

I first began supporting Ajax in the late 1990s after watching Edwin van der Sar playing for the team. I do not remember when exactly, but possibly after finding out Ajax won the 1995 European Cup.

That team was a magical one. Marc Overmars. The de Boer brothers. Nwankwo Kanu. Jari Litmanen. Clarence Seedorf. Danny Blind.

As a teenager, I kept drawing Ajax’s Dutchman logo on my belongings. Pencil case, exercise books, tabletop. I remembered every line that needed to be drawn. And when I played Championship Manager, I only played Ajax and nothing else.

It has been ups and downs with Ajax. But since the late 1990s in general, until Frank de Boer arrived to manage the team, it is not an exaggeration to say it had been a downhill journey. I have stayed true to the team for all those years, but being dismissed as a has-been second-rated team was an insult I am sure many Ajax fans had to endure.

That is not to say there were no great players during the interim. Rafael van der Vaart. Wesley Sneijder. Luis Suarez. Christian Chivu. John Heitinga. Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The names go on and go. Yet, they could not quite make it super big at Ajax, and Ajax could not hold on to them. There was not enough money to go around. So they went away, doing great things at bigger clubs outside, getting paid multiple times more than what they got in Amsterdam.

But this current team, well…

I watched some ESPN clips commenting about the Ajax-Juventus fixture. All of them were dismissing Ajax with a halfhearted hand wave. “Ajax is good,” they said. “But they lack the experience,” they claimed.

And there was Cristiano Ronaldo.

This team that forced Bayern Munich to work for their one point and embarrassed Real Madrid in Santiago Bernabeu so badly, could not beat Juventus so supreme in the Serie A and so certain to win the Italian League, they believed.

And Ajax, oh well, Ajax is only at the top of the second-rated division, ahead of PSV Eindhoven by only goal difference.

Who is Ajax?

But Ajax has been in a serious rebuilding mode since the early 2010s when several of the 1990s veterans joined the management. There were infighting, but Frank de Boer rebuilt the team. He left in 2016 but he left a great foundation for Ajax to run on that they reached the final of the 2017 Europa Cup, losing to Manchester United after a great run. But well, that is second-rated competition. Who cares?

And now, in 2019 Ajax is in the semifinal after beating Juventus. Do not let anybody say it was luck. It was actually Ajax working brilliantly with confidence and experience.

And those ESPN commentators?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP8yzG5bIEU

Eating Ronaldo’s smelly socks, no doubt.

Categories
Poetry Sports

[2535] Well done Everton!

While we turn,
for Everton,
we drink tea,
for City!

Categories
Sports

[1982] Of Manure-haters, rejoice!

I am not a fan of soccer column. I do read that kind of column once in a while but that is usually about Ajax. But this one at The Malaysian Insider may encourage me to take more interest in it.

It is just that the decisions that have favoured Man U have come at the very best times for the Devils. As they struggled for early season form — after a demoralising defeat against a Liverpool without Torres and Gerrard and a draw against Chelsea, they had four points from as many games — and seemed to have run out of ideas against Bolton, the referee managed to award them a penalty, ostensibly after being so awed by Jlloyd Samuel’s perfect tackle on Ronaldo that he accidentally breathed into his whistle. [It’s over. Shannon Teoh. The Malaysian Insider. May 14 2009]

Too hilarious, man. And any Manure-hater column deserved to be read.

Categories
Sports

[1432] Of laughing at Manchester United

Hahahahahahahaha!

The final goal was one of sheer confusion. It was so confusing that even van der Sar stood deeply in the goal to guard it. Not too many realized that it was a goal when it happened, not even me.

But it is good enough.

Hahahahahahahaha!

Categories
Sports

[1234] Of let us jeopardize the future of our soccer by supporting the Red Devils

As a junior at Michigan during one autumn, I took an economics class instructed by a professor with sharp sense of humor. At one time, he shared a conversation he had with his young daughter. The daughter had two choices: an ice cream today or a trip to Disney World next week; having both is not an acceptable answer. While many of in the class would choose the latter, the daughter opted for an ice cream today. He went to lament humorously on how short term a child’s investment horizons could be. From then on, he touched briefly on the instant gratification hypothesis. Fast forwards several years on the other side of the planet, that child is Malaysia, that ice cream is the Manchester United match and that Disney World is the Asian Cup.

I understand that preferences differ across individuals but the Malaysian preference is remarkably short term in nature that it brings the instant gratification hypothesis to another level altogether. For the uninitiated, a short background on the issue is required if one is to comprehend what is going on.

Malaysia — along with three other Southeast Asia countries — is hosting the Asian Cup, a continental wide soccer tournament this July. One tiny detail requires the hosts of the tournament to concentrate on the Asian Cup. Malaysia however plans to have a match with Manchester United during the Asian Cup tournament and that is causing AFC as well as FIFA discomfort. Both have requested Malaysia to cancel or postpone the match and concentrate on the Asian Cup instead, or face severe punishment the might include membership suspension from AFC. Initially, Malaysia through the Football Association of Malaysia seems to adhere with the directive but then, somehow, the Prime Minister of Malaysia felt the need to jump into the fray and directed the Manchester United match to go on regardless.

I find it odd that the Prime Minister and the Cabinet need to intervene in the matter. I fully trust, whatever the decision might be, the Football Association of Malaysia is able to handle the matter. Trivial matters such as this does not deserve the Prime Minister’s attention, unlike a national disaster. Moreover, Iran had its membership in FIFA suspended because of government interference on soccer matters and it is possible for Malaysia to find itself in the same scenario Iran had gone through. In my opinion, the threat of suspension far exceed any benefit we might gain from government intervention, as far as this issue is concerned.

I find it disappointing that the Malaysian government has opted to jeopardize our relationship with AFC and FIFA simply because of the Manchester United match. I cannot overstate the fact that gain from the match is short term in nature. It brings limited one-time monetary returns and does not contribute to the development of our soccer. Surely nobody would believe that a match with Manchester United would improve the quality of Malaysia soccer. Relationship with AFC and FIFA on the other hand would allow continuous exposure for the benefits of Malaysian soccer.

After all that, the question that needs answering is this: if AFC and FIFA decide to suspend Malaysia’s membership, what is going to happen with our already sad state of soccer?

Are we going to be a soccer hermit because of Manchester United?

If we turn our back on AFC and FIFA now, would we be given a chance to host the Asian Games, the World Cup or the Olympics in the future?

I would say dump Manchester United, make Asian Cup a success and secure our relationship with AFC and FIFA. Or at least, postpone the match after the Asian Cup.