Piala Malaysia | Negeri benam PKNS untuk laluan lebih sukar

“And there goes the final whistle of the Malaysia Cup final. There can only be one winner and tonight that title belongs to the men in yellow. Just look at what it means to their fans. The fans have gone bonkers inside the stadium. Just look at the waves and waves of yellow, black and red flags. Negeri Sembilan is champions once more…”

Ah, what I’d do to experience that again. What it’s like to be inside the cauldron at the final whistle, going hysterical spinning the yellow scarves above head, hugging persons to my left and right, high-fiving sons and daughters of complete strangers I’ve just met inside the stadium. To let my kids high five strangers that if they were to meet those same people somewhere else my advise was to stay damn clear of them. Oh what I’d give to go through that again.

In Negeri’s current state, that scenario seems as likely as Arsenal winning the Champions League this season. Tonight was the 5th game of the Malaysia Cup group stage and Negeri has now won 2 games in a row. But is it a case of “too little too late”? Still 1 game left to play. Mathematically, Negeri is still in with a chance to qualify to the Quarter final. But there are too many requirements that need to be fulfilled.

First, Negeri needs to win against Kedah. Current FA Cup champions. In Darulaman.
Second, Terengganu needs to lose against PKNS which has nothing else to play for except pride.
Third, Negeri has to make up for the +6 goal difference.

Just don’t see the stars aligning and then suddenly beaming a bright light to magically open the gate.
Nevertheless, those 2 wins were brilliant wins against Super League sides. Have to admit that I didn’t think Negeri could pull it off against PKNS tonight after watching them being played off the field in Paroi. More so after the referee started to display questionable antics. What is it with Negeri when it comes to referees. I’d boldly say that Negeri would be in the Super League next season if not due to, okay how do I say this in a politically correct manner, bloody bad refereeing. Don’t take my word for it, go and search for recordings of the matches. Oh I just remembered, Premier League, no recordings. Well with no further antics during the game, Negeri scored, PKNS player gets red carded, superb refereeing, Negeri scored, Negeri won. See, Negeri wins when we get good referee.

As usual, Negeri has the attacking combo of Neto and Ferris to thank. Ferris showed us again how dearly we missed him in past crucial games. This season has definitely made me change my opinion of him. Easily Negeri’s best local player this season. Ferris for Harimau Malaya. Igor also came good tonight. An assist and a goal, what more can you ask for. Matheus too got his fair share of commentary from iflix commentators. Comments ranging from words of amazement on his defending capabilities to giggles of amusement, also on his defending capabilities. Well that’s the Matheus that Negeri fans have come to know. Kaharudin could have had a memorable night only to be denied by the referee. The one handed penalty save he made was a super effort for a goalkeeper not 185cm in height. Overall, performance which deserve 3 points.

The thing with this Negeri side is their Jekyl and Hyde character throughout the season. To compound the matter, when they’re showing their good side, along comes another villain, yes, bad referee. Nope, ain’t going to let this referee matter go away easily. Good referee equals Negeri in Super League. Simple.

So, is it really a case of “too little too late” at this point. Come to think of it again, maybe not. Not if you look at it from a different angle. Instead of too late, maybe we are just very early. Yes, that’s it. Very early. We have started very early kickstarting for next season. We’ve got the right gameplay. We’ve identified the key players, both imports and locals, to create the base team for next season. We’ve got the key players already playing together for one season. Yes, that’s it. We are very early.

However, the validity of visioning from this angle has a strict rule. Rule is that there must be continuity.

So PBNS, you know the drill. No! No! Not the normal method of chopping up the team at the end of season and rebuilding from scratch at the start of new season. Noooo! It’s to tie up the key players for next season as soon as possible. Like right now. Stop making Cup games becoming our players’ audition platform for Super League teams. Have some pride.
So lets see which angle they choose to view from. They’re the drivers. We may only be passengers on this trip but we’ll definitely make one hell of a noise if they make a wrong turn.

Faizal Jabar.

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