Malaysian football fans have been welcoming European players since the late 1980’s. It’s a popular destination for players from Croatia and Slovakia in particular, while many pros from the English, French and German leagues have also found a home in the country. Malaysia’s multi-cultural nature and consistently strong economic record make it something of a haven for players looking for a new challenge.

Current Players

Europeans based in Malaysia right now include Goran Perak. Perak, 27, is a Croatian midfielder who’s found a new home at Sime Darby FC. He moved to the Majlis Perbandaran Selayang Stadium from NK Vinogradar, a small Croatian club near Jastrebarsko.

Abdulfatah Safi, 32, is currently playing for his second Malaysian club, having signed for Sabah FA from Kedah this year. He’s played in his home country, France, and various Middle Eastern countries in the last decade.

George Boateng, 38, is a Dutch midfielder who signed a contract with T-Team this year. Formerly at Nottingham Forest, he’s played for a variety of English clubs including Aston Villa and Middlesborough.

Tomas Chovanec, 25, arrived at Betaria FC this year from Dolny Kubin in his home country, Slovakia. The striker’s senior career began in 2011 at Ruzomberok.

Ex Players

One player that Malaysian fans will miss is Spain’s Daniel Guiza. The prolific 33 year old striker arrived at Darul Takzim (on loan from Getafe) last year, but has now moved to Paraguay. Guiza has made 21 appearances for his national side.

Players that have excited Malaysian fans in seasons gone by include England’s Tony Cottee, now a TV commentator with Sky. The ex-striker arrived at Selangor in 1996, scored 14 goals and won the FAM Cup. He left to join Leicester City shortly afterwards.

The late David Rocastle, much loved in England especially by Arsenal fans, ended his career at Sabah in 1999. Though plagued by injury, “Rocky” Rocastle managed 8 goals in 13 games for the club.

Croatian striker Bosko Balaban, 35, is another well-known player who spent time at Selangor. He’s scored regularly for the club, though it looks like his playing days are now over. His previous clubs included Belgium’s Brugge, for whom he scored 40 goals in 83 appearances. He also played many times for the Croatian national side between 2000 and 2007.

Adding Global Interest

It’s obvious to most people that the presence of foreign players in a nation’s leagues adds interest, not only for that country’s fans, but also for fans from all over the world. Online betting on Malaysian league football is strong, and while Malaysia haven’t qualified for Brazil 2014, the level of world cup betting in the country will surely reflect that interest. If you fancy checking out the early odds for this summers tournament head over to dafabet to see all the odds.

(Images courtesy of sinarharian.com, wikipedia, wikipedia, vandaag.be)

And so it has come to this.

We are already in the final quarter of 2013 and the World Cup Year is upon us. Once again Malaysia barely made past the group stage. A big change is needed if we want Malaysia to advance and the most important change is mentality. The world cup is the biggest stage for any footballer and it is a shame if Malaysia can’t even past the regional group here, what with all the fans that are crazy about football.

Everyone likes football and one of the most intense moment in a world cup match is a penalty kick, which is a lot like lottery.

The outcome of a match has boiled down to a one-on-one battle between the goalie and the kicker, with all eyes – their teammates’, their coaches’, their fans’ in the stands, and even the eyes of those watching at home – on them. It’s one of those moments when the final result is determined by a number of factors. Skill, as well as conditioning; but as anyone who has been in a penalty situation will tell you, luck also has something to do with it.

Win Conditions
In contrast, casino games seem inherently dictated by luck alone. A lot of the outcomes of these games appear to be determined by the strength of the hand you’ve been dealt with in poker, the number you bet on a roulette table, or the combination where the slot machine decides to stop at.

However, for anyone who has done the casino rounds long enough – whether in online castlejackpot.com games or live MGM Grand events – these supposed games of “skill and chance” are so much more than that. After all, a large part of poker relies on one’s skill to bluff his way through opponents; a roulette aficionado might be able to determine the probability para

meters of a table given enough observation time; and even slot machine enthusiasts will swear that wins can also be decided by how much force you apply on the handles.

Different Shades of Similarities

Both football and casino games may seem worlds apart when it comes to game mechanics and win determinants; and maybe they are. Nevertheless, both are also clouded over by the so-called “uncertainty factor” wherein the result can more often than not go one way or the other if the right (or wrong) conditions come into play. Casino games have this factor in spades, but as explained in the paragraph above, a player may still have some degree of control over the outcome. If there’s anything for football players to get from that, it’s that the nature of the sport allows them to have a greater degree of control in any given outcome. That is, if controlling the uncertain is deemed possible by casino players, there should be no reason for football players to think otherwise.

The Proper Mindset

As mentioned before, the 2014 World Cup games are almost drawing near, and if you consider yourself a true fan of not just the Sabah Rhinos but of Malaysian Football in general, you’d want to see the national team make it to the top-bracket matches in the future. Of course, the team will have to go through rigorous training regimens; but more than that, the point to drive home is that they will have to keep in mind that they always have the ability to take control of any given situation on the pitch.

With any luck, the skill set and conditioning that they bring to the table will be enough to curb the uncertainty.

Tags: World Cup 2014

The Sabah Rhinos are a football team from the Sabah state of Malaysia. Founded in 1977, they are named after the endangered Sumatran rhino that lives in the Sabah region and most fans still refer to the team as the rhinos even though they were re-branded as the hawks in 2010. The team is based at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu, capital of the Sabah state.

Having recently fallen in the league tables, the Sabah Rhinos are now looking to make the team great again with better organization and good players. To find out how well the team are doing at the moment you can use the best sportsbook around at the moment, the Bodog sportsbook at http://www.bodog88.com/en/sportsbook. The need for improvement within the team is discussed in the article ‘Propel Sabah to Greater Heights‘. The article calls on fans to help make the team great again and says that while previous players have brought glory to the state, it’s time to move forward.

But before going any further, it would be best to discuss who are the players that made the Sabah Rhinos great in the first place?

In the beginning there was James Wong, a.k.a. King James Wong or Ah Fook. He has been dubbed the Malaysian Cristiano Ronaldo because of his skills. His most well remembered goal is that of the 1980 Olympic qualifier against South Korea. He couldn’t have scored this goal, however, without the help of Hassan Sani. Hassan Sani played for both the junior and senior Sabah Rhinos teams. He was considered to be very agile and so was nicknamed Lipas Kudung. These two strikers first brought the Sabah Rhinos to fame and were the reason that the team struck fear into the hearts of their opponents. In 1979, having played 8 games in the Malaysian League, winning 3, losing 3 and drawing 2, they then went on to win their next 8 games by huge margins.

Despite these early achievements, the Sabah Rhinos did not become a professional team until the 1990s. During this era it was Matlan Marjan who was their star player. He scored 2 goals against England in 1991, equalling Toni Fritsch’s 35 year-old record of scoring twice against England as a new cap. He helped the Rhinos team to become runners up in the 1993 and 1994 Malaysia FA Cups.

After the team rebuilt their reputation, it was the younger Marjan’s turn to be a star. In 2002, Zainizam Marjan scored 11 goals in 24 matches helping the Sabah Rhinos to secure third place in the Malaysian Premier I League. In 2003 he helped the team to get to the final of the Malaysia Cup. He is the Sabah Rhino’s second highest goal scorer with a total of 62 goals.

If you’re watching a Sabah Rhinos game and think that you might like to back the Rhinos by betting on them, you’ll find no better place for sports betting than Bodog Thailand. You know it’s good because it’s featured on various sportsbook review websites.

You can find more information and statistics about all of these players at the FIFA website. In the author’s opinion, the players mentioned are the greatest Sabah Rhinos players ever to grace the pitch because they are the ones who contributed most significantly to the advancement of the team within the Malaysian League. From early team members who helped make the team great, to those who made history and those who brought the team back to glory; these are the men who charged the Rhinos towards greatness.

Of course the team dynamics are not solely due to the players. The system, the club management and support from the fans are also vital factors in considering the performance of the team. The players of the 70s may have made the team great but to keep it that way, the Rhinos need to move with the times and keep up with the other Malaysian teams.

SHAH ALAM, Oct 20 (Bernama) — Kelantan created history when they lifted the 2012 Malaysia Cup after defeating Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) 3-2 in the final at Shah Alam Stadium Saturday night.

Indra Putra Mahayuddin was the toast of the Red Warriors when he scored the winning goal in extra time after both sides were tied at 2-2 on regular time.

(more…)

Tags: ATM, Kelantan, Malaysia Cup, treble

In a rather good news for the state football scene, the SUKMA team has managed to overcome favourites and current President’s Cup champ Perak to the gold, with 3 goals in extra time to win it.

It was a historic feat for the team as they turned on the power in the extra time with three great goals that settled the absorbing tie.

The match went into extra time after 90 minutes of play when both teams failed to find the net.

(more…)