Football Geography Hall: The country where Johor retired from the game-Malaysia

 In the AFC Champions League, after Guangzhou Evergrande drew 0-0 with South Korean team Suwon Samsung, the qualifying situation is already precarious. The reason is simple, because the Malaysian team Johor in this group has retired, therefore, the Johor game will not be scored.

1. Introduction to Malaysia

                 Malaysia is located in the southeast of Asia, between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Malaysia is roughly divided into two parts by the South China Sea: Peninsular Malaysia at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula and Sabah Sarawak on the island of Kalimantan. Malaysia has an area of 330,000 square kilometers and a population of 31.66 million (2016). In terms of administration, Malaysia divides the country into 13 states and 3 federal territories (Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, government seat Putrajaya, and Labuan area), of which the western part of Peninsular Malaysia accounts for one-third of Malaysia’s land area However, there are 11 states in the country and the two federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. The region borders Thailand in the north and Singapore across the Strait of Johor in the south. The Sarawak part of Sabah in the east occupies two-thirds of the country, but the two states of Sabah and Sarawak and the Labuan Territory are located here. The lot borders Indonesia to the south, and Brunei is bordered by the north and middle sections.

Malaysia is located in tropical regions, so the country’s climate is mainly tropical. But different regions show different climate types. The northern region has a tropical monsoon climate due to the alternating influence of the northeast trade wind belt and the northeast monsoon going south. However, most areas of the country, because they are located near the equator, are controlled by the equatorial depression all year round, and present a tropical rain forest climate. It is mainly manifested as high temperature throughout the year, annual precipitation can reach 2000 mm, and there is no obvious seasonal distribution. Therefore, Malaysia is rich in animal and plant resources. In the tropical rainforest, there are many rare animals and birds. Among them, tropical orchids, giant apes and butterflies are known as Malaysia’s three treasures. Due to its suitable climate, Malaysia is suitable for the growth of many tropical crops. Therefore, Malaysia has become an important tropical crop production area in the world. Malaysia is also in the forefront of the world in terms of rubber, palm oil, tropical fruits and other output.

                Speaking of Malaysia, what comes to our minds is the Strait of Malacca, the busiest waterway in the world. We know that there are many Chinese in Malaysia. In the Chinese music scene, many popular singers, such as Liang Jingru, Wu Qixian, A Niu, Pin Guan, etc. are all Chinese in Malaysia. In addition, Penang, Malaysia is also the birthplace of China’s modern revolution. The famous movie “Ye Ming” was shot in Penang, Malaysia. Malaysia also has famous tourist attractions such as Semporna and Mermaid Island.
2. Malaysian football

               Football is also one of the favorite sports events of Malaysians. After Malaysia became independent from Britain, the Malaysian Football Association joined FIFA in 1956 and became a member of FIFA. Regarding the affiliation of the Continental Football Federation, Malaysia naturally chose its own Asia, becoming a member of the AFC and also a member of the Southeast Asian Football Association under the AFC. In the latest FIFA national team rankings, the Malaysian team ranked 171st, while their U23 opponent South Korea ranked 57th in the Asian Games.

              They were once a strong team in Asia. The 1970s was the golden age of Malaysian football development. In 1972, Malaysia represented Asia in the Munich Olympics, but failed to qualify from the group. They were again nominated for the Moscow Olympics in 1980, but later due to various reasons, Malaysia chose to withdraw from the Olympics. Therefore, the experience of participating in the Olympic Games only stays in one session. In the later period, due to the black whistle of the match-fixing, Malaysia’s record urgently needed to decline. To this day, they have been reduced to a big team.

              On the stage of the World Series, the Malaysian team has not been shortlisted for a World Cup so far. In the most recent World Cup Asian qualifier, Malaysia directly advanced to the top 40. In the top 40, they were in the same group as East Timor, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Palestine. In the top 40 games, they scored 1 win, 1 draw and 6 losses with only 4 points, scoring 3 goals and losing 30 goals and bid farewell to the Russian World Cup early. Among them, the only victory was won in the underdog East Timor. And their only points are obtained in East Timor.

 The number of times I participated in the Asian Cup also stayed three times, participating in the Asian Cup in Iran in 1976, the Asian Cup in 1980, and the Asian Cup in 2007 jointly organized with Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. They all failed to get the right to qualify. In the 2019 UAE Asian Cup, Malaysia was finally out of the qualifiers and was not shortlisted.

               The Malaysian team is a familiar opponent to the Chinese team. In 1976, it was not only the first time that Malaysia participated in the Asian Cup, but also the first time that the Chinese team participated in the Asian Cup. The Chinese team and the Malaysian team met in the group stage, and the other opponent was the Kuwait team. In the group stage, the Chinese team drew with the Malaysian team 1 to 1, and eventually overwhelmed their opponents with a goal difference, directly advanced to the semi-finals, and eventually won third place.

               In the 2006 Germany World Cup qualifiers, the Chinese team was once again in the same group as Malaysia. Although the Chinese team has double-killed opponents at home and away. However, at a critical moment, the Chinese team lost to Kuwait 0 to 1 away. This means that in the end, the Chinese team must beat Hong Kong, China, and Malaysia must not lose by a large margin to have a chance to advance to the top 10. In the end, although the Chinese team defeated Hong Kong, China 7-0, Malaysia lost to Kuwait 1-6. In this way, the Chinese team bid farewell to the 2006 World Cup in Germany with a goal disadvantage. In the 2007 Asian Cup, the Chinese team was once again in the same group with Malaysia. Although the Chinese team defeated their opponents 5-1 in the first round, in the last round, the Chinese team lost to Uzbekistan 0-3 on the premise that they could qualify after a tie, and failed to qualify.

              Although the strength of Malaysian football is still weak, in order to improve the level of Malaysian football, Malaysia formed the Malaysian Football Super League in 2004. In order to increase the influence of football, Malaysia’s Johor team once introduced Argentine star Aimar in 2013, but due to long-term injuries, Aimar chose to leave after only staying here for 2 seasons. In 2014, Malaysia launched the NFDP (National Football Development Plan) plan. Just 3 years later, in a British trial, their U13 defeated most of the English youth training clubs. Among them, there were 7-2 Tottenham U13, 7-0 Crystal Palace U13, 7-0 Burns. In U13, 5-1 Sheffield U14 four big score matches.

 However, domestic match-fixing is still a chronic disease of national football. For Malaysia, if they want to achieve a sudden emergence, they still have a lot of homework to do. The Asian Games defeated South Korea. Will it be an opportunity for them to challenge the order of Asian football in the future? Let time give us an answer.