2014 Brazil World Cup Qualifiers: Malaysia edge Chinese Taipei to set date with rival Singapore.

Malaysia will meet rival Singapore in World Cup Qualifiers 2014 2nd Round after sweat won on away goal rule against Chinese Taipei.

On the 1st leg, goal from Safiq Rahim and Aidil Zafuan on each half gave the Malaysia a 2-1 lead ahead the 2nd leg in Taipei after Po Liang Chen reduced the defisit.

In Taipei, the host nation almost shocked the ASEAN champions when they twice came back from behind to drew the aggregate level 4-4 in a thrilling match. Aidil Zafuan 7th mins and 40th mins Safiq Rahim free kicks gave the Malaysia a lead before Han Cheng, Po Liang Chen and Belgium-born Xavier Chen scored for the host.

In that match exposed some very weak defending from the ASEAN Champs when they conceeds 3 penaltie that saw the Taipei converted 2 out of 3. The Malaysian defense should learnt from this mistakes in order to progress in the nest round.

Singapore will host Malaysia on July 23 at Jalan Besar Stadium before Malaysia entertain the Lion 4 days later.

Hope Datuk Rajagopal men will quickly fix the individual mistake and improve the offensive side.

Pre-Olympics 2012 Qualifiers: Malaysia edge favourite Lebanon to clinch top 12 team

Malaysia 2 - Lebanon 1.

The scoreline look very surprising especially to the East West nation. Malaysian prove to the Asian that they are the team to be watched out when the Malaysian will be among the top 12 teams to be drawn in the final round of the Asian Olympic qualifiers.

Ten-man Malaysia advanced to the final round of the Asian Olympic qualifiers (last 12) through the skin of their teeth after edging Lebanon 2-1 on aggregate at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.

It was a gallant performance indeed by Ong Kim Swee’s boys after they had held the seeded Lebanese side to a goalless draw in the second round, first-leg match in Beirut on Sunday. Mohd Irfan Fazail opened the scoring for Malaysia in the ninth minute before Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor doubled the advantage with a cool finish in the 42nd minute. Chadi Atie reduced the deficit for the visitors in the 64th minute.

Sheer joy: Mohd Irfan Fazail (second from left) is surrounded by his team-mates after scoring Malaysia’s first goal against Lebanon at the National Stadium yesterday.


The group winners qualify for the London Games. The second-placed teams will then play off at a centralised venue from March 25-29 and the winner will face an African side for a place in the Olympics.
For the record, Malaysia have only qualified twice for the Olympics – in 1972 (Munich) and 1980 (Moscow).

The draw for the final round will be held on July 7.

Liverpool 3rd kit season 2011/12 released

Available on July 14, 2011

Optimism | Steven Gerrard eyes an influential term under Kenny Dalglish


Grafter | Dirk Kuyt targeting an improved season at Anfield


The full strip | White and blue on Merseyside once more

Malaysia IX vs Liverpool - 16 July 2011. Ticket on sale now!

Hi readers,
Malaysia set to make three friendly matches with English Premier League teams on July. The three matches are between Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Currently, only time, date and venue set for  Malaysia XI vs Liverpool FC match.
Time: 5.45pm
Date: 16 July 2011
Venue: Bukit Jalil Stadium, Kuala Lumpur
For Malaysia XI vs Liverpool FC ticket check below:
Malaysia XI vs Liverpool FC ticket is open from 30th May – 9th July. Check at your nearest TicketPro Outlets:
Ticketpro Telesales :03-78807999

* Not available via http://www.ticketpro.com.my will update soon!!
Checkout about Liverpool Asia Tour 2011 soon.

MALAYSIA TOUR TICKETS ON SALE

Chelsea are delighted to announce the first sale dates for the Malaysia leg of our pre-season tour on July 21.

Chelsea meet a Malaysia XI at the 87,000 Bukit Jalil Stadium, and supporters will be able to buy tickets at selected adidas stores in the country from this Friday, May 20.

Supporters who purchase tickets from these outlets will also receive an exclusive free Training Pass, which will allow you entry into one of the team's open training sessions at the stadium. But hurry - there are only a limited number!

Tickets will also go on sale online from Monday, May 30.
Supporters should click on to Ticketpro (www.ticketpro.com.my), visit a Ticketpro outlet (http://www.ticketpro.com.my/jnp/ticket-outlets/index.html) or call the Ticketpro Hotline (+603 7880 7999).
Tickets will be priced in four bands, at RM388, RM108, RM68 and RM58.
It is not the first time Chelsea have played in the Bukit Jalil Stadium. Chelsea visited as part of the Premier League Asia Trophy in 2003, just after Roman Abramovich had bought the club, and lifted the trophy after defeating Birmingham City and Newcastle United (on penalties).

Meanwhile Chelsea also played in the nearby Shah Alam Stadium just three years ago, when Luiz Felipe Scolari's side beat a Malaysia XI 2-0 with goals from Nicolas Anelka and Ashley Cole.

Ticket details for our matches in Bangkok on July 24, and Hong Kong on July 27 and 30, will be announced shortly. Click back to www.chelseafc.com/ontour to stay up to date.

Unachievement Arsenal: Wenger should be sacked by now.

With an adequate and decent big squad, the Gunner should achieve something for the last 5-6 years. The names like Fabregas, van Persie, Arshavin, Nasri or even Walcott, Arsenal should be a major contender for the BPL and Champions League title but still the Gunner silverware drought continues....

Who should be blame for this?

The idea to introduce young Guns was something tremendous. But, if the idea cannot be transform into a success, there was something wrong.

Six reasons why Chelsea are no longer the team that thrashed Wigan 6-0 in August

1. Didier Drogba's malaria

The towering Ivorian has been one of the Premier League's finest imports, bullying defenders into submission and producing moments of genuine quality since he joined back in 2004, but this season has seen an alarming dip. In November, the 33-year-old complained of feeling unwell before Chelsea's trip to Liverpool and sat out the first half before coming on as a substitute in the 2-0 defeat. 

Tests later revealed that the forward had malaria, an energy sapping and potentially fatal disease. Remarkably, and either a testament to the man's strength or the stupidity of the club's medical staff, the player did not miss a game, yet clearly was operating at nowhere near full power. The striker has scored just five goals in the 24 games he has been involved in since the diagnosis.

There is of course the possibility that the illness is masking a natural decline towards the final seasons of his career, but last year Drogba, a fine athlete, was immense, showing very little sign that such a dramatic drop was to come. Malaria has at the very least brought forward the expiry date on the striker's top-flight performance levels, and at the worst has left him not even half the player he was just 12 months before.

2. Injuries

Last year Chelsea were relatively lucky with their injury woes en route to a domestic double, and had the added security of veteran stalwarts like Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Juliano Belletti and Michael Ballack to call upon to ease the load in the event of a spate of knocks wiping out starters. This season has been different.

Since pasting Wigan at the DW in August, Yossi Benayoun has been hit by a serious injury which had kept him out until only the past two weeks; John Terry missed a chunk of November, coinciding with the beginning of the rot in form; the dependable Alex has been absent since December with a knee complaint; and even Frank Lampard, who has an appearance tally that usually only goalkeepers can reach, has been afflicted with problems, missing September through November.

Undoubtedly such key losses have harmed Chelsea's hopes this season, particularly the two more senior absentees. The England men have been the Blues' rocks of Roman Abramovich's success and their calmness and influence were sorely missed through the disastrous winter run, effectively leaving the side playing catch up for the rest of the season.


3. Fernando Torres changing the balance of the side and misfiring

By December, most fans and pundits were in agreement that serious investment needed to be made in January to avert the highly likely disaster scenario of the club not even qualifying for next season's Champions League. A quality forward was the most obvious area of improvement, and when the Stamford Bridge outfit beamed their Striker-SOS-Signal in the direction of Merseyside, Fernando Torres looked up to the skies and knew he had to answer it.

But, despite signing for a mammoth £50 million fee, he still hasn't answered the distress call and has spent his nine games for the club wandering around forlornly, scarcely showing a flicker of the quality that is hidden beneath the depressed exterior. 

The Spaniard's cause has not been helped by being forced to play in unusual systems and unfamiliar positions, lending credence to the theory that this was, like Andriy Shevchenko before, the owner's signing foisted onto a manager who had made no plans for an extra striker. The 27-year-old's presence should add variety and danger to Chelsea's forward play, but the clear confusion has muddied the team's passing moves as he has been unable to forge a partnership with Lampard, Drogba or Anelka, leaving the Blues blunter and more bundling than ever on the attack.


4. Ray Wilkins' departure

Carlo Ancelotti's right-hand man left in acrimonious and unclear circumstances, with his exit immediately being followed by a stretch of mediocre and downright dreadful performances.

The former AC Milan and Manchester United player is a renowned coach whose technical knowhow and tactical understanding may not necessarily come through as a co-commentator but would surely have resonated through Chelsea's Cobham training ground and on match days.

Players would have looked up to a man capped 84 times by his country and been instrumental in the double-winning side of last season. His shock dismissal would have raised eyebrows and disheartened spirits throughout coaching and playing staff.


5. Players not performing

At times last year Chelsea produced breathtaking performances with a full starring cast, but too many players have coasted through this campaign, and they can have no-one but themselves to blame.

Michael Essien, Florent Malouda and Ashley Cole were all at the top of their game last season. This season has been dramatically different. 

Essien's wild tackles, which have always been a part of his game but have been mostly overshadowed by formidable all-round play, have often been his only noticeable aspect of his presence. 

Malouda is only four goals short of his haul of 15 last season but his overall game has been nowhere near the high levels set last season, with the winger even being replaced by Yuri Zhirkov in the starting line-up against Manchester United on Wednesday – an unfathomable fall for a player who was heinously underrated last season. 

And Cole, perhaps like Drogba and Lampard, appears to be slipping into his retirement slippers a bit too early, with some timid attacking displays, not least in this week's Champions League quarter-final, that are wildly uncharacteristic.

6. Growing uncertainty around Carlo Ancelotti's future

It may seem ridiculous that a man who won the double in his first year in a foreign league, bringing the title back for the first time in four years, should be facing questions about his job security, but the Italian has this season.

As soon as the cracks began to emerge in Chelsea's season in November, the 'Ancelotti out' rumours cranked up. At the time they seemed malicious and not rooted in reality, but his seeming acquiescence to Abramovich by playing the out-of-form Torres at the expense of the team's balance, combined with his failure to keep his players in check or performing to their best, and a gutlessness in the big games has raised serious doubts about the former AC Milan manager's suitability in the long term.

Rumours of a return to Serie A with newly cash rich Roma have been whipped up even by the man himself, who seems to have one eye on a summer exit with his reputation still intact. The Italian has said that it would be a "dream" to manage the team that he made nearly 200 appearances as a player for, and with a certain Portuguese boss in Spain making noises of a return to the Premier League, some Blues fans might not be too fussed about saying arrivederci to Ancelotti.