Malaysia Cup 2009: Teams adopting dirty tactics

INSTEAD of bringing out the best in competing teams, the Malaysia Cup fever may have brought out the worst in some of them.

Terengganu team manager Shaikh Ahmad Tajuddin Shaikh Yusoff said Sarawak were one of the teams who chose to abandon the principle of the 'beautiful game' by adopting illegal-tackling tactics.

According to Negri Sembilan head coach Wan Jamak Wan Hassan, Johor were no better when the premier league outfit opted for physical intimidation, even as far as indulging in off-the-ball tackles.

He said several of his players were bruised and battered in the 2-1 away win and might not be fit enough for the home match against Sarawak today.


"Unlike regular league matches, the Malaysia Cup tournament tends to invoke stronger desire to succeed among the competing teams and some of them may have taken it a little too far.

"But it was only the first game of the competition and we hope in future matches, such malice will not escape the eyes of the match officials," he said.

Shaikh Ahmad said Terengganu were no strangers to tough-tackling football but he claimed Sarawak went over the top with their violent conduct, on and off the field.

"We were unfazed by the missiles thrown by their fans, our players were able to take the physical abuse on the field but it was a little too much when team officials invaded the pitch to intimidate our players.

"The match was stopped for about 10 minutes in the second half to diffuse the tense situation and we have to count our lucky stars that none of our players were seriously injured," said the Terengganu FA vice president.

Terengganu team captain Marzuki Yusoff said he did not remember Sarawak players being overly aggressive in previous matches.

"But then again, most of their players now are young and probably over-eager to impress.

"We went there to play football and we managed to do just that although our Under-21 player Sofi Hamid was red-carded together with a Sarawak player just after Khairul Izwan Khalid scored the winning goal for us," he said.

Meanwhile in Kota Baru, Kelantan coach B. Sathianathan said his players would have to be prepared for a backlash from defending champions Kedah who were held to a 1-1 draw by Armed Forces on Saturday.

Nicol bounces back to join list of legends

NICOL David sealed her place in the pantheon of squash greats by winning her fourth World Open title after an engrossing battle with Natalie Grinham in the final in Amsterdam yesterday.

In a re-match of the 2006 world final in Belfast, Nicol proved her shock British Open quarter-final defeat was a mere blip as she crushed Dutch hopes of a home win with a 3-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8 win in 51 minutes for her 40th career Wispa Tour title.

"To come back from last week, this week.. it's an amazing feeling for me," said Nicol, still apparently dazed from her stunning achievement.

"I don't know what I'm saying. In fact, I can't believe it still... four titles!"
Nicol David beat Natalie Grinham 3-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8 in the World Open final in Amsterdam yesterday.
Nicol David beat Natalie Grinham 3-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8 in the World Open final in Amsterdam yesterday.


The triumph put Nicol on par with New Zealand great Susan Devoy on four world titles and just one behind her mentor Sarah Fitz-Gerald of Australia.

Nicol entered the final after an energy sapping 4-11, 11-6, 15-13, 11-7 semi-final win in one hour and two minutes over Alison Waters of England on Saturday while Natalie needed just half that time to sweep past her sister Rachael 11-13, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4.

It set up a much anticipated final between the top two seeds, who were both making their fourth world final appearance, but the odds were stacked against Natalie, who had lost their previous 11 meetings since the last of her seven victories in 29 clashes with Nicol at the 2007 Seoul Open final.

Natalie was hoping to become only the second Dutch world champion after Vanessa Atkinson in 2004 and the partisan crowd at the Frans Otten Stadion were rooting for an upset when Natalie outplayed the World No 1 in the first game as she stormed into an 8-2 lead before taking the opener in 11 minutes.

But in what has become almost routine for Nicol, the defending champion settled her nerves to level the match when she broke clear from 4-4 in the second game.

The third game was over in a flash as Nicol found her rhythm and sped to a 7-1 lead to take a decisive two games to one lead.

Natalie, ranked third in the world, attempted to engineer a fightback in the fourth game when she led 5-2 and 6-3 but it merely delayed the inevitable.

Nicol drew level at 6-6 and after Natalie edged ahead at 8-6, the Malaysian reeled off five points in a row to leave her rival with the runner-up trophy for the fourth time in the last five years.

"Winning that first game gave her confidence but for me, it was a question of not a good game, now move on," said Nicol.


"In the fourth, those points at 8-8 and 9-9 were so crucial. I had to raise my game to take her confidence away, so I just went for it."

The world title is Nicol's sixth on the Wispa Tour this year following her wins in Cayman Islands, Texas, Seoul, Malaysia and Singapore in addition to winning the World Games gold medal.

Moto GP: Rossi dominates to extend overall lead

MISANO (Italy): Italian motorcycling maestro Valentino Rossi extended his lead in the MotoGp standings yesterday as he easily beat teammate and championship rival Jorge Lorenzo to take the San Marino race.

The 30-year-old eight-times world champion -- who had admitted over the weekend to holding talks with Ferrari about driving for them in next weekend's Formula One Italian Grand Prix before deciding against taking up the offer -- had been pinned back by Lorenzo when the Spaniard won last weekend's US MotoGp.

However, with victory yesterday his lead is 30 points -- 237 to 207 -- while another Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, who was third here, moves into third place overall on 157 points ahead of Australian Casey Stoner, who is absent because of a mystery virus which has plagued him all season.

Rossi, who has also revealed that things are not totally happy within the stable but will see out his contract which ends at the end of next season, confessed that all had not been too good at the beginning.
Yamaha's Valentino Rossi has extended his lead to 30 points.
Yamaha's Valentino Rossi has extended his lead to 30 points.


"It wasn't easy at the beginning and I was in trouble after a bad start," said Rossi, who had begun on pole.

"However, it was in the end the perfect weekend."

Lorenzo admitted that he had not been up to the level of the Italian.

"I put in as much effort as I possibly could especially when I overtook Dani (Pedrosa).

"However, Valentino was clearly the number one this weekend."

Pedrosa was extremely fortunate to even finish the race as he ran out of fuel on the wind down lap after taking the chequered flag.

"Maybe I had a problem for something like that to happen," he said.

"Lorenzo and Rossi were just too fast for me on the corners, but hopefully I will have more fortune next time."

With 23 laps remaining Lorenzo was right on Rossi's tail with Pedrosa leading, but the irrepressible Italian gave himself some breathing space as he overtook Pedrosa two laps later.


Lorenzo was having a devil of a time to get past his compatriot Pedrosa and try to get at his Yamaha team-mate, who with 16 laps to go held a lead of nearly two seconds over the pursuing pair.

Lorenzo finally passed Pedrosa with 15 laps remaining and desperately tried to claw back the gap between himself and Rossi while Pedrosa looked safe in third as he had an eight-second advantage over Andrea Dovizioso.

However, Lorenzo, who had been really disappointed by his performance in qualifying, was unable to make any inroads into Rossi's lead and the Italian had opened up a gap of well over two seconds with just eight laps remaining.

Veteran Loris Capirossi performed a brilliant overtaking of Dovizioso with just four laps to go to reconfirm his Suzuki team's decision to offer him a new contract -- though Dovizioso was to regain fourth spot in another dramatic overtaking manoeuvre on the final lap.

The early part of the race had seen a spectacular collision between Nicky Hayden and home hope Alex de Angelis -- third and second respectively in the United States last weekend -- with the American venting his spleen at the San Marino rider and having to be separated by a race steward.

Earlier, Aprilia had dominated the other categories with 1-2-3 cleansweeps in both.

Hector Berbera of Spain won the 250cc Grand Prix, leading home teammates Italien Mattia Pasini and another Spaniard, Alvaro Bautista.

Julian Simon of Spain won the 125cc Grand Prix in seeing off compatriot Nicolas Terol and Britain's Bradley Smith. -- AFP

Alonso's Anfield departure planned year ago

LONDON: Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso has admitted he planned to quit Liverpool from the moment Anfield boss Rafa Benitez tried to sell him last year.

Benitez had wanted to off-load Alonso to Juventus in July 2008 to raise money to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa.

Alonso was disappointed to hear that Benitez was willing to let him go and resolved to leave when the right opportunity arose.

That finally happened when he joined Real for STG30 million (RM173 million) in August after revealing to Benitez that he wanted to leave the Premier League club.


"It was a very difficult decision for me to make," he told Sky Sports News.

"After five years I have experienced wonderful nights at Anfield, to have experienced the support of probably the best fans in the world.

"That's why I have always been very grateful and I will always have them in my mind and it has been a pleasure.

"Last year the club proposed to me that I might have to be sold to find funds for new players.

"It was a difficult decision or difficult moment to accept that. I accepted that as a professional and that moment probably changed my mind and I thought that maybe from that moment that maybe it was time for a change."

Alonso has since admitted that his relationship with Benitez deteriorated when he demanded to leave but the Spanish international reveals that their relationship was always a professional one.

"There has been a lot of rumours but I have always said that it has been simply a professional relationship," he said.

"I have always tried to do what he asked to do. What he asked of me on the pitch to do the talking on the pitch and that's that as far as that." -- AFP

AN under-strength National Under-23 side turned in a commendable performance before going down 1-0 to Saudi Arabian professional club Al-Qadisiya in Damman yesterday.

Captain and defender Aidil Zafuan Abd Radzak and midfield duo Bunyamin Umar and Shakir Ali were rested due to injur ies.

Coach K. Rajagobal said he tried out several fringe players in the match.

“I tested several players and strategies. The end result is not important as they played to my expectations,” said the coach when contacted in Damman.

“We let in a soft goal as a result of K.

Gur usamy’s back pass. Overall, the players created several scoring opportunities which is a positive sign.” Among the players tested were third choice goalkeeper Mohd Sharbinee Ramli, Ahmad Shakir Ali and Gur usamy.

Al-Qadisiya, a club based in Khobar, fielded their best including Argentina- born striker Ruben Dario Gigena.

The club are currently 11th in the 12-team Saudi Arabian Professional League.

Meanwhile, Rajagobal hopes his three regulars (Aidil, Bunyamin, Shakir) will be fit for the friendly against Jordan on S at u r d ay.

“They are showing signs of recovering and should be available. I will field my best players for the Jordan match,” said Rajagobal.

Malaysia can expect a hot reception in Amman as the hosts, ranked 122 in the world, are expected to name their top players including Spain-based striker Thaer Fayed Bawab who plays for CD Alfaro, a Spanish lower division club, in Aidil Zafuan was rested due to injury. Saturday ’s match.

Rajagobal: Shakir can go far

NATIONAL Under-23 coach K. Rajagobal, who knows all about good strikers, believes Kedah-born Ahmad Shakir Md Ali has the makings of one.

"Shakir has everything a perfect striker needs," said Rajagobal. "He's fast, he's technically gifted and he's excellent on the ball. Shakir is a young lad and if he concentrates on his football, he will go far."

So impressed was Rajagobal with the 19-year-old Shakir that the coach included him in the National Under-23 squad in April.

Though Shakir, who scored 17 goals for Premier League side Young Tigers this season, has yet to start in an international match (featuring only as a substitute in recent friendlies), the young striker has impressed many with his strong presence on the field when given the opportunity.


Shakir was a substitute when the National Under-23 team took on Indonesia, Manchester United and Kenya in recent friendly matches and he provided the extra bite up front, though he did not score.

But Shakir's wait for his first international goal ended on Monday when he scored in Malaysia's 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in Riyadh.

"Shakir is a fearless striker. Despite his age, he is not afraid to take on experience defenders. I remember him giving Manchester United defenders a tough time in July," said Rajagobal.

"He is a very exciting player to watch. I believe, in time, he will be a great player." Shakir, if he continues with his performance, will likely feature in the Sea Games in Laos.

The other strikers in the training squad are Zaquan Adha Radzak, Norsharul Izlan Talaha, Farderin Kadir and Ahmad Fakri Shaarani.

Meanwhile, Rajagobal believes his Under-23 squad will reach their full potential as a unit in three years.

"They are improving with every match but it will take another three years before they make it big.

"My players are young and they need the exposure and experience. Of course the immediate target for them will be the Laos Sea Games," he said.

Rajagobal added that he will only set a target for the Sea Games after the draw is released in mid-October. -- AJITPAL SINGH

Roddick back in hunt after heartbreak

ANDY Roddick has bounced back from the heartbreak of an epic five-set loss to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final eight weeks ago to serve notice he will be a contender again at the US Open.

"You play the hand you are dealt," Roddick said.

"I don't think at any point that I sit around and feel sorry for myself. I feel pretty fortunate ... there have been great champions that you have to go through every era in tennis."

Roddick turned 27 on Sunday, the eve of the year's last grand slam tournament on the Flushing Meadows hard courts where the American won his only slam crown in 2003.
Andy Roddick has recovered from the heartbreak of an epic five-set loss to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final eight weeks ago.
Andy Roddick has recovered from the heartbreak of an epic five-set loss to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final eight weeks ago.


Roddick hopes to add another magic memory in two weeks.

"There was never a point where I was going to just lay down afterwards or not come back and play hard," Roddick said.

"I wish more than anything I had won that tournament but at the same time I'm still going to move on and keep going with the plan because I feel like it is working."

The fifth seed could meet Federer again in the US Open semi-finals, but even that rematch would likely lack the tension and drama of their Wimbledon final match-up, which Federer won to capture his record 15th career slam title.

"It's always tough in tennis," Federer said. "There is always going to be a winner even though both have played great throughout the event.

"I've walked off tennis courts a loser many times. I wouldn't ask the other guy to feel sorry for me. Or the fans. It's just part of the game. Same thing here. I'm happy it was a great match. I think that's what we look back on."

Federer took the last set 16-14, a marathon that proved to be the longest fifth set in grand slam history. Roddick took a heartbreaking defeat but found that in the valiant effort he had touched something with those who watched it.

"I'm not sure what made people emotionally invested in it. Obviously I think it was a very high-level match. We were both trying our hardest but beyond that I think that's for (others) to decipher," Roddick said.

There were some low points in Roddick's recovery.


"For the first two or three weeks afterwards I think it changed daily but like anything, the more you distance yourself from it, you start remembering the better things as opposed to the most disappointing things," Roddick said.

"It was a very good event. I would have loved to have changed the last five minutes of it but you look forward to another opportunity."

Roddick joked that more people could relate to his failure than astonishing success such as that of Federer, but the US fireball server also admits the well-wishers played a major role in helping him overcome the defeat.

"The support I got from fans, from peers, from everybody, it was surprising in the best way possible and pretty humbling," Roddick said. "I was really surprised how many people watched it and were affected by it.

"To be honest, that really helped the process." -- AFP