KUALA LUMPUR: What a pathetic end to the national Under-22 team's campaign at the Phnom Penh Sea Games.
Who do we blame for this debacle? The FA of Malaysia (FAM), the M-League clubs, the players or coach E. Elavarasan?
Malaysia have not reached the semi-finals in two of three editions and have not won a medal since their silver-medal effort at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur Sea Games.
It signifies something is very wrong with the development of local football.
Enough of excuses. Yes, several regulars were missing from Elavarasan's squad, but it was the job of FAM to secure the top youth players for the Sea Games mission.
Why were these players left out, especially those based in Malaysia? Only FAM can answer this burning question.
Did the coaches pick the wrong players? Only the coaches can respond to this question.
FAM should have looked into many crucial factors before deciding to set 'the final' as the target for the Sea Games. The national body is now defenceless as the team have clearly failed to meet their target.
Enough of the "sandiwara." The Sea Games flop just does not "tally" with the senior team's success in qualifying for the Asian Cup Finals.
Frankly, based on logic, it wouldn't have been possible to make the Asian Cup Finals if not for the services of naturalised and heritage players.
One thing for sure is that the failure to reach the semi-finals in Phnom Penh has alarmingly exposed a lot of things about Malaysian football.
It does not matter whether FAM has other grand plans for the national youth team. Yes, Elavarasan, credit to him, is doing his best to build a decent team for the Under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers later this year. If Malaysia qualify for the continental-level event, they will have a chance to fight for a ticket to the Paris Olympics.
But based on their Sea Games performance, if FAM and their coaches are adamant that their best youth players were in Phnom Penh, then we are all going to be disappointed again.
Football is the mother of all gold medals at the Sea Games. It is about bragging rights and superiority.
And fans must accept that the future stars of Malaysian football are just not good enough to stamp their marks in this region.
On Monday, Malaysia were chasing the match, but all hopes ended when two players were sent off.
Safwan Mansor was red-carded after taking a swing at a Vietnamese player's face inside the Malaysian box in the 79th minute. Of course, the Vietnamese made the most of the incident by dropping to the ground theatrically, but there was no denying contact was made.
Safwan should have conducted himself professionally and controlled his emotions, as the referee had already blown the whistle for a free-kick to Malaysia.
Three minutes later, Najmudin Akmal Kamal Akmal also received his marching order, but to be fair, the referee got it wrong.
Malaysia will end their Group B campaign against Singapore on Thursday, and a win over their Causeway rivals will help Elavarasan's boys regain some pride in finishing third in the pool behind Vietnam and Thailand.
