Best Italian Players Of My Time

A friend of mine triggered this thought in my head. Who would feature as the Top 3 Italian players that I have seen of all-time? Since it's the international weekend, there is no better and more appropriate time than now to delve into this topic. I find it tough to name just 3 so I have decided to choose to best player in each position; Goalkeeper, Defender, Midfielder and Forward.

In goal, I have chosen Gianluigi Buffon because of his longevity, quality, professionalism and effort shown throughout the years. The older he has got, the better he has become just like wine and even at the age of 37, the determination, passion and effort he puts in is still so much better than anyone 10 years younger than him. He is still one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the moment and he is still playing at a top-level for a top club in Italy and Europe. What I like about him is that he is gracious in defeat, a great sportsman and a great leader. He is the record holder of international caps for the national team and rightly the captain for club and country. He could have had more caps if he wasn't unlucky with an injury before Euro 2000. Gianluca Pagliuca, who is a legend at the club I support, Inter comes in second. He was a great goalkeeper and had good tournaments in 1994 and 1998 and is probably the most good-looking goalkeeper I have ever seen. He could probably model on the side in games when the ball hardly came into his half. He was great at stopping penalties and saved one in the 1994 World Cup Final penalty shootout. A close second to Buffon. Post-1994, he lost his place as the first choice national team goalkeeper to Angelo Peruzzi who was a beast of a man but did very well, when he was promoted to first choice just before World Cup 1998 due to an injury to Peruzzi. I was naturally delighted for Pagliuca as an Inter fan. I might sound biased but Francesco Toldo, another legend at Inter, has to be third for the remarkable impact he had for Italy in Euro 2000. He stepped up as first choice goalkeeper in Euro 2000 after an injury to Buffon and he did spectacularly well especially in the semi-final against co-hosts, the Netherlands. If it wasn't for him (luck and a solid dogged defensive display), Italy would have lost that semi-final. Toldo was a reserve in the 1998 World Cup, 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 squads but he was one of the heroes of Italy's unexpected run to the final of Euro 2000.

In defence, I would plump for Paolo Maldini. Maldini was a great servant for both club and country. He was the former holder of the most international caps for Italy before he was overtaken by Fabio Cannavaro and then Gianluigi Buffon recently. What I liked about him was that he was a classy defender who read the game well, was good in the air and fast on the ground. He was like the perfect defender and an example for all rising defenders. When the penny finally dropped that I should play as a defender, I used Maldini as an example. It was extremely tough to get the better of him and it was rare to see any attacker get the better of him. He did as well playing as a marauding left back as he did in the centre of defence. He was a leader and a great sportsman. It's just sad and unfortunate that despite all the success he tasted at club level, he wasn't able to savour any success at the international level. I never quite managed to watch Franco Baresi at international level as he was injured a lot during the time. I saw a lot of Giuseppe Bergomi at club level but only saw him play at the 1998 World Cup where he did well as expected as the most experienced Italian defender in the squad. Fabio Cannavaro, was another great defender. He was a great leader, had a great leap despite being short for a defender and had lots of pace when he was younger but got exposed against speedy attackers in his later years. He is the last Italian player to have won the Ballon d'Or. Cannavaro was the blood and thunder defender and dovetailed very well with Alessandro Nesta who was another great defender. Nesta, was another great leader, read the game well, was quick across the ground, good in the air but unfortunately was unlucky with injuries. Alessandro Costacurta and Gianluca Zambrotta were other defenders that are worth a mention for their service in the Azzurri jersey. A honorary mention for Antonio Benarrivo (1994 World Cup), Fabio Grosso (2006 World Cup) and Marco Materazzi (2006 World Cup) for at least having one good tournament.

In midfield, I have gone for an obvious choice, Andrea Pirlo. Pirlo is the master passer. He controls the pace of the game from midfield and is the classiest Italian midfielder I have ever seen. He reads the game well and let's the ball do all the work. He might not seem like the most industrious sort but in each game, the number of kilometers he covers is surprising. At the moment, he is seems to be at the stage of passing on the baton to younger players like Marco Verratti as he is used sparingly by Antonio Conte for the national team. Besides his passing prowess, he is a master at set-pieces and can easily weigh in with goals from distance and is deadly from free-kicks. A midfielder that I felt came close was Demetrio Albertini. Albertini was the creative force and leader of the Italian midfield in the 90s and early 00s. Pirlo was his successor at AC Milan and at international level. Other midfielders worth a mention would be midfielders that are tiggerish and industrious Gennaro Gattuso, Dino Baggio, Luigi Di Biagio, Daniele De Rossi as well as wingers like Roberto Donadoni, Nicola Berti and Simone Perrotta. A honorary mention for Stefano Fiore for a great Euro 2000 as the trequartista.

Finally, it shouldn't come as a surprise for my choice as the Best Italian Forward Of My Time, the majestic Roberto Baggio. He is the last Italian forward to have won the prestigious FIFA World Player Of The Year and Ballon d'Or and is the joint leading Italian goalscorer in the World Cup. He is one of the greatest Number 10s and players of all time. He scored great goals, simple goals, created goals and brought a lot of joy to a generation of supporters of the Italian national team. He almost always delivered in the major tournaments for Italy, as an upcoming talent in World Cup 1990, as the star of the team in World Cup 1994 and as the experienced understudy in World Cup 1998. Unfortunately for Baggio and a generation of talented players from the 90s, he could not win any silverware with the national team and another unfortunate episode attached to Baggio would be the penalty miss in the 1994 World Cup Final to seal the win for Brazil. The impact Baggio had on the national team has not been replicated since. Christian Vieri comes close and is the joint-leading Italian goalscorer in the World Cup with Baggio. He exploded onto the scene in the 1998 World Cup and then carried it on as one of Italy's star strikers in the 2002 World Cup but injuries and lack of form saw him miss out on the 2006 World Cup. Injury caused Vieri to miss out on Euro 2000 too and by the time Euro 2004 came around, his form was on the downturn. Francesco Totti comes after him having one great tournament in Euro 2000 but then struggled to cope with the pressure of being Italy's star player in the 2002 World Cup (getting sent off in Italy's controversial defeat to South Korea) and then in Euro 2004 where he lasted only one match after he was suspended for spitting at an opponent. He had minimal impact in Italy's triumphant 2006 World Cup campaign but was lucky enough to have become a World Champion with his most notable contribution being the penalty conversion against Australia in the second round. Filippo Inzaghi deserves a mention for a good Euro 2000 and Luca Toni for 2006 World Cup. Alessandro Del Piero would get some mention as well. His biggest contribution would be an equaliser against Mexico in the 2002 World Cup to save Italy from an early group exit and the final goal in the 2006 World Cup semi final against Germany. Honorary mention for Antonio Cassano for a good Euro 2004 and Euro 2012 as well as Mario Balotelli for a good Euro 2012.

The players I have selected, Buffon, Maldini, Pirlo and Baggio are all well-loved and respected by their peers and fans of all clubs in Italy regardless of who they support.

Focus On The Italian National Team

It was international weekend last week which for most is seen as a hindrance as that would mean a weekend without any "meaningful" football from your favourite leagues and club teams. Most football fans are mainly excited by international football only when it reaches the final stage of a tournament not the qualifiers or friendlies but the international teams would need to qualify for these international or continental tournaments and would need friendlies to fine tune their playing style as well as experiment and try out new players and systems which is why these weekends are important to the international team managers. During this kind of weekends, most fans would just pray that the international players from their favourite club or clubs do not return to club duties with any injuries. The good news is that the international weekend is now over and the bad news is that inevitably, someone did get injured.

I am an Italy fan and have been one for the longest time. It was the first-ever team I supported and I feel for the Italian national team very strongly. I am not an Italian citizen, have no Italian ancestry and never ever been to Italy but I support Italy like it is my national team. It is the number 1 international team for me. Heading into this round of European Championships qualifying matches, I was quite worried over the state of the national team seeing that from a recent study, the Italian national team's manager, Antonio Conte has only 36% of Italian players to choose from Serie A for the national team. Italian players have left Italy due to the lack of faith and trust in them as well as the lack of space or are in Serie A but don't play often enough. Moreover, the atmosphere in Italian football can be very stressful and poisonous due to the violence, demands and expectations placed on teams by fans.

Italian clubs have been very territorial in their approach, focusing only on the good of their respective club sides and discounting the greater good of the national team. From what I have read, qualifiers and friendlies are not taken seriously in Italy which is why you see the national team losing friendlies and doing the bare minimum in qualifiers to qualify for an international or continental tournament. Once they have qualified for the World Cup or European Championships, everyone would leave their club allegiance aside for one month at the end of the season to support the national team and get upset when things go wrong and Italy do not win the tournament as they are expected to by most fans. In fact, Italy tends to do better in the World Cup or European Championships when they have been written off and not given a chance. History would suggest so. Personally, I love it when Italy approaches a tournament and is completely written off before a tournament because I know that is when Italy will be at its most dangerous.

Back to the topic of lack of Italian players in Serie A, I don't understand why Italian players are not given space, trust and faith in the Italian clubs. My favourite Italian club, Internazionale is one of the main culprits of doing so. There have been an influx of foreigners into Italian football not necessarily for the better. Some of these foreigners occupy a space that could be occupied by an Italian player without offering more in terms of quality. There have been suggestions that Serie A is on its way back to its glory days again due to the foreign names it is attracting but if you analyse it carefully, most of the foreign players are either rejects from big clubs in other leagues, players formerly from the Serie A who can't find space in foreign clubs or players in their career's final lap. Some do well and can provide a boost to a team's quality while some others falter to deceive.

On the topic of Italian players, is there not enough talent in Italian youth players? I think so looking at the results of the youth Italian teams. The Under-21 team were unlucky to have got knocked out in the group stage of last year's U21 European Championships. Italian players do not lack talent. What they do lack in is confidence to express themselves fully without fear of failure and suffer from inexperience. Italian football is such a stickler for success and the end result that any small mistake made and the player would be annihilated by the press and fans. Due to this fear of making a mistake, young players play with an iron ball around their ankles and do not dare to express themselves fully. There is too much pressure placed on players. Due to the lack of space afforded to these youngsters in the first team, the youngsters lose out in terms of experience playing in Serie B or lower or worse still, in the Primavera against teams of similar ilk and experience whereas German and Spanish players play regularly in the highest division of their league.

Italy have suffered two embarrassing exits from the World Cup. In both cases, they were eliminated in the group stage itself. There was a brief blip of joy and positivity when Italy finished second in the 2012 European Championships and third in the 2013 Confederations Cup. The strength of Italian football lies in the tactical discipline that has been passed on from generation to generation as well as the win-at-all costs mentality.These two factors have enabled Italy to punch above their weight and surprise the odds even when on paper, they have seem to possess a squad lacking in quality but this lack of quality is also the reason why Italy hasn't been able to take the leap forward and win a World Cup or European Championship after winning the 2006 World Cup.

The Italian FA's controversial President, Carlo Tavecchio has commented on the issue of foreigners in Italian football but has done little to address the issue. Former Italian national team manager, Cesare Prandelli has also commented on it as has other big names in the game but no-one in a position of power has exerted any influence or their power to address the issue. It could be due to the fear of upsetting the club Presidents who have only got the greater good of their club side in mind. There have been allegations raised that Tavecchio is a puppet for Lazio's President Claudio Lotito and doesn't act independently.

Italian football needs to be refreshed with new ideas and fresh faces in the management positions at club and national level. By management, I mean management in the administrative level. Stadiums need to be renovated and club-owned. Violence and hooliganism needs to be eradicated. Fresh ideas need to be brought in at all levels of the game starting from the FIGC to Serie A, Serie B and so on. Primavera teams should be allowed to compete in the lower leagues of the Italian league system with promotion to Serie B as their ceiling of progression. All clubs should universally agree to focus on developing young Italian players and giving space to Italian players in their first team. The Italian national team should be the Number 1 team in Italy not Juventus or Roma or AC Milan or Inter. Knowing the selfishness of Italian clubs which comes from the traditional win-at-all costs attitude in the game, perhaps a restriction needs to be introduced to force Italian clubs into fielding a certain amount of Italian players as part of their starting eleven and a certain amount of Italian players as part of their match day squad per week. I don't think a lot of these Italian clubs realise the talents they have on their hands as they are so blinded by foreign players, Inter being the prime example.

There have been complaints in the recent past over the inclusion of Oriundi in the national team but what is Conte to do when there are so many foreigners and so little Italians to choose from? It is slowly becoming more common now for Italian players to move abroad to find playing time and to play in a better atmosphere where they can focus on football and lead a normal life without the fear of being harrassed by fans after losing a match or being under too much pressure during the entire week. Not many have made a successful transition with Marco Verratti developing at an eye-catching and consistent rate. Graziano Pelle, has been abroad for a long time now but has only gained prominence now playing in the English Premier League. Matteo Darmian has made a good start to life at Manchester United and Salvatore Sirigu was first choice at Paris Saint Germain until he lost his place this season. Sebastian Giovinco is enjoying a new lease of life and is full of confidence in Major League Soccer. If Italian players continue to find themselves marginalised in their own countries, more Italian players will continue to move abroad and Italian football would suffer from the talent drain. If foreign players continue to be preferred over Italian players, then it would be better for Italian clubs to compete in foreign leagues instead. I do hope one day soon crooks like Lotito and puppets like Tavecchio are removed to allow for someone younger and fresher to revolutionise Italian football. I don't mind taking up the mantle but I don't speak or understand Italian and I am afraid I lack the expertise to implement the changes and ironically, Italians are sceptical of having foreign owners for their clubs and foreign players representing their national team. I don't think they would take too kindly to having a foreigner trying to revolutionise Italian football. Hahah.

In this round of European Championship qualifier matches, Italy won both matches 1-0 at a time when Italian players haven't exactly hit full form in terms of match fitness. I feel the team collected good and important results on the path to qualifying for the European Championships. I didn't get to watch these matches so I can't comment on the performances but being an Italian fan, I know that all that matters now is to win and qualify. It would be nice to see or hear of Italy winning comfortably by a bigger score-line but I read that Italy were profligate in both matches and the standard between the big teams in Europe and the smaller teams has reduced over the years. It is no longer a walk in the park for big teams against smaller teams. We'll accept the goal of qualification any way it comes. Due to these wins, Italy have moved up the FIFA standings and most importantly moved a step closer to qualifying. Win against Azerbaijan next on the 11th of October and Italy would go through. Achievable goal but what about the future of Italian football? I hope more is done and lesser is said about what needs rectifying in Italian football for the sake of the national team.

Inter 2015-16 Preview

It's not official yet but Mateo Kovacic would be sold to Real Madrid. The news is disappointing to hear. Very disappointing for me personally as the Croatian was fast becoming my favourite player at Inter. He was worthy to wear the number 10 jersey that was once worn by one of my all-time favourites, Roberto Baggio and that was last worn rightfully by Wesley Sneijder. The only consolation for me is that he is not going to Liverpool like Coutinho did. This as well as the signings made in the summer so far epitomises the lack of planning and strategy in Inter's transfer policy. You can say it's typical of Inter to buy quick and fast and lack patience and/or to buy and then not plan on how to manage the resources and squad size.

This season onwards, Serie A squads have been capped to only 25 players per squad and it was no secret. The directors knew it all along but yet before they could sell, they bought and they bought a lot. They now face the predicament of offloading players. All summer, the club has struggled to sell players especially with players turning down moves elsewhere. Finally, at long last, the club managed to offload Xherdan Shaqiri after he was offered to many different clubs. He was sold to the first club that he was offered to, Stoke City after failing to agree to a move there earlier in the summer. Shaqiri only lasted 6 months at the club. He had come to Inter with aplomb and amidst great excitement. He started off well but then tailed off. It's too soon to sell a player that had just been bought 6 months ago unless there was a falling out of sorts with the manager Roberto Mancini. On top of the squad cap, the club had to adhere to UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules which has been something the club started doing since they won the Treble as it tried reduce its debts. It has resulted in significant weakening of the squad without signing replacements of sufficient quality.

Why did we sign Shaqiri, a player with obvious quality, in the winter on a 4 year contract only to sell him 6 months later? I just can't understand it at all unless the player himself wanted to move or he fell out with the manager. Santon too was signed in the winter. He had hardly played at Newcastle before his move to Inter and understandably after a strong start, he would tail off due to the lack of fitness just like Shaqiri and he was also offered to other clubs. Why, oh why? His performances in pre-season have been jittery but he deserves time and faith for at least one full season. Danilo D'Ambrosio played well under Mancini last season and he is transfer listed. Why?! Beats me! Martin Montoya who was signed from Barcelona in the summer hasn't quite set the world alight with his performances. D'Ambrosio deserves his spot at right back. Signing Jeison Murillo looks like a very good decision and the decision could be vindicated if all goes well. However, I am not too sure on the signing of Miranda. We'll see how that turns out. I'd rather have him as back up. It's sad though that captain Andrea Ranocchia has been kept out of the starting lineup. He has had some shaky performances I admit but on his day he can be as good as anyone. I would prefer to see the pairing of Murillo-Ranocchia at centre back. Nemanja Vidic had a bad season. He did redeem himself somewhat in the closing months of last season but I wouldn't be surprised if he was sold. There are rumours Juan Jesus could be sold. He is a good back up to have at centre back and an option at left back but not great in both positions so I wouldn't mind if he is sold. I would rather keep Marco Andreolli at centre back as cover because to be fair, he has always done well at centre back when he has played. He doesn't deserve to be sold. Yuto Nagatomo could be sold and it would be sad when that happens as he has always given his best when he has played and a favourite with fans and team-mates but I understand the reason for it when it happens. He is under-rated slightly and as an Asian, I am proud to see a fellow Asian playing at one of my favourite clubs. Ezequiel Schelotto and Dodo are two players clearly surplus to requirements as well.

In midfield, a big deal was made out of the signing of Geoffrey Kondogbia. He is not the best player in the world. Let's be honest, we didn't sign Andres Iniesta. He is still a relative youngster and has a huge price tag to live up to as well as having to adjust to playing in Serie A which might not be the easiest thing to do so please give him time and pipe down on your expectations of him. Thank God we have kept Gary Medel so far. He did well and the best he could last season in his position. Marcelo Brovozic is growing into an influential player in pre-season and would be one to watch out for. Thank God we did not sign Felipe Melo because that would have been the most unnecessary signing of the summer. Assane Gnoukouri, a product of our youth academy is getting opportunities to play in the first team and that is nice to see. Hopefully more would follow. I am disappointed to see Marco Benassi leave for Torino. He did well there last season in Serie A, the Europa League and for the Italy U21s at the Euro U21. He would have been good to have in the squad. I certainly would not mind seeing Fredy Guarin, a player that has frustrated me and lots of fans with his inconsistent displays, leave. Another player I don't mind seeing leave would be Hernanes. We have only seen the best of him in flashes which is something you do not expect from an established player who is not new to Italian football. There's also forgotten and unwanted man Saphir Taider who had a strong start to life at Inter under Walter Mazzari to be sold as well. The imminent departure of Kovacic is another disappointment. I hope and pray for a miracle and the move falls through.

Up front, I would have made the brave decision in cashing in on Mauro Icardi. He might have been top scorer last season but I feel he is over-rated. I do have a moral vendetta against him for what he did to his best friend, Maxi Lopez which could cloud my judgement but the lack of goals in pre-season seems to vindicate my point. We would have got lots of money from his sale and I feel he is less integral to Inter's present and future plans than Kovacic. Rodrigo Palacio is getting on in age but always gives us more than 100% in every game. He might be losing pace but I hope he stays injury-free because he can be really dangerous when he is sharp. The signing of Stevan Jovetic is a good one. I am excited to see him play and its been a long time since I have been excited by Inter signing an attacker. I just hope he can rediscover his Fiorentina form and that he hasn't become a talent spoilt and wasted by Manchester City. We have re-signed Jonathan Biabiany who last season was so close to joining AC Milan. He came through our ranks, we had him with us in the first post-Treble season (2010-11), sold him to Parma after some less than impressive displays where he did very well and is now back with us. Most importantly, I hope he is in good health after his health scare and then I hope he can cope with the pressure of playing for Inter. He will certainly be useful to Mancini's plans to play with wingers. I would have kept Samuele Longo so I am disappointed to see him go.

On potential signings, there has been a lot of talk all summer on the chase for Ivan Perisic. If he fails to arrive, I wouldn't mind signing Dries Mertens and no-one else really. No way can I see Diego Perotti as a player worthy of Inter. There's talk of signing Thiago Motta and it would be nice to have him back to bolster the midfield after the imminent sale of Kovacic and also a left back. Between Fabio Coentrao and Domenico Criscito, I'd rather see us sign Criscito as he is an Italian and its very unlikely Coentrao would sign for Inter. In a nutshell, just for the sake of selling players to reduce debts and squad size, I wouldn't mind selling Vidic, Nagatomo, Guarin, Hernanes, Taider, Schelotto, Icardi (maybe Juan Jesus too) and return Dodo to Roma. I would have kept Benassi, Longo and Kovacic at the club. We would then need to sign a striker (how about Berardi or Immobile if we had "sold" Icardi earlier), Criscito and Perisic or Mertens. In case you are wondering why I have not mentioned goalkeepers, it's because even Inter are not that crazy to sell Samir Handanovic after the seasons that he has had. There was a threat of that happening when he hadn't extended his contract and if he did leave, I believe we have a good replacement ready in Francesco Bardi (only if the club keeps its eyes open to Italian players).

The results in pre-season have been far from impressive. I have watched some matches in pre-season and we have not played as badly as the results suggest. What has been telling has been the lack of sharpness in attack. We have been toothless. I know results in pre-season don't guarantee you a great season and I hope we have a better season than the last one and the one we are suggesting to have so far. The best things in this pre-season has been our new kits.

Since the Treble and Jose Mourinho, Inter has changed 7 managers in 5 years! That is certainly not a recipe for success. The club has lacked stability at all levels. The sale of the club to Erick Thohir has contributed to the instability experienced at the club. As fans, we are aware of the need to sell before signing. It doesn't help if we keep missing out on qualifying to the Champions League. We don't have a stadium of our own like Juventus. It takes patience and careful planning if Inter are to return to glory days again but I seriously doubt we will ever see that. The longer we go without winning anything, the more twitchy the club will get. We have seen it before in the past and I wouldn't be surprised if it repeats now and lessons from the past are not learnt. Fingers crossed for a better than expected season. Inter is really Amala Inter!

Welcome To Ras' Football World

This blog has just been rediscovered after 6 years. As the title suggests, it would be on football. I had wanted to mix it up and write a bit on my life, experiences and observations but decided against it.

My football story began in the early 90s. In chronological order, I support the Italian National Team, Manchester United and Internazionale. I came about to support Italy on the back of Italia 90 when I had received a Subbuteo set from my father as a gift. In it, the two teams were Italy and Argentina. As a 5 year old, I preferred Italy's blue to Argentina's blue and white stripes and that is how Italy became my first favourite team.

I started supporting Manchester United because my father likened me to Lee Sharpe. He was just being kind because in no way do I resemble him. Lee Sharpe was playing for United at that time and he became my first favourite player while United became the second team that was my favourite.

On my own, I started watching Serie A highlights looking out for the Italian players that I knew of from Italia 90 namely Roberto Baggio and Salvatore Schillaci. They were both playing for Juventus so for a short period I looked out for Juventus' matches but at the same time I was always fascinated by the snake in Internazionale's logo. My favourite animal is snake and that is because my favourite WWF wrestler was Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Then came a time when Schillaci moved to Inter and I had a choice to make on whether to stick to Baggio and Juventus or move with Schillaci to Inter. I chose Schillaci and became an Inter fan ever since. Ironically, Baggio never left my heart and became my second favourite player.

My third favourite player is Eric Cantona. He became a favourite after returning from his ban for kicking a fan. I had always liked him but he became a favourite after he single-handedly led a young United team to the Double in 95-96.

Sparing a thought for local football, the first ever match I remember watching was a Malaysia Cup final between Johor and a team that I can't recall now (after research I have found out that the year was 1991 and the opposition was Selangor). I was fascinated by the triumvirate of Abbas Saad, Alistair Edwards and Ervin Boban. Abbas Saad became my favourite and then I became a Singapore fan shortly after until 1994.

The rivalry was intense for me because I had family across the border and my cousins would always pick any Malaysian team that played against Singapore just to spite me. I remember watching in agony on TV with my cousins the defeat to Kedah in the Malaysia Cup final at the Merdeka Stadium and the joy of winning the final resoundingly a year later in 1994 at the Shah Alam Stadium. Ironically, though, during this time I never supported Singapore in any international match. I remember cheering on Myanmar to beat Singapore in the 1993 SEA Games. I spoiled my eyesight at an early age due to watching Malaysia League and Cup matches right in front of the TV set.

Nowadays, I lean more towards my Malaysian side. I don't particularly support any team although I would have some allegiance to Negeri Sembilan as that's where my family is and my mum is from. I have even represented Negeri Sembilan Sikhs in 2000 in the annual Gurdwara Cup (a multi-sports tournament between Sikhs in the different Malaysian states and Singapore). I would look out for Malaysia's results and cheer them on a bit more. If I was to explain why, I would say I guess I am just following my heart and where it feels at home.

The 90s was a great time to grow up. We didn't get to watch every match from most of the big European leagues. We needed to stick out an antenna to receive reception of Malaysian and Indonesian channels to watch only one English and Italian league match per week and that match might not feature your favourite team. We got to watch weekly highlights of both leagues but they were a week old. The latest results could be found on Teletext or on The New Paper. Malaysia League & Cup matches were shown "live" on local TV. We used to collect sticker books and I used to exchange stickers of players in the Malaysian League with my Malaysian cousins through post. We played games like table soccer and Subbuteo or created "players" out of cardboard and play an unnamed but ingenious form of football. There were many technically gifted players in the 90s to admire as well as flamboyant and colourful characters.

Those were the days.....Till we meet again. Take care!