Malaysian coach K. Rajagobal would have been humbled to know the support Malaysia had -- in the build-up as well as during Saturday's World Cup Qualifier against Singapore.
Naturally, there were quite a few who were frustrated -- online as well as in the Jalan Besar Stadium -- by Malaysia's defensive howlers which led to them calling for the defenders who played against Chelsea to be called up for the Thursday's return leg at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
What was thought-provoking though was the absence of ridicule, which would have been natural as recent as three years ago as fans had gotten used to two decades of under-achievement by Malaysian national teams.
In fact, the build-up to Saturday's tie was one of optimism when it would have been the exact opposite prior to the 2009 Laos Sea Games and 2010 AFF Cup triumphs.
Even after the finish, the feeling among netizens was one of confidence that Malaysia would redeem themselves in the return leg and take their place amongst Asia's elite in the final round of the Qualifier.
What this goes to show is that while Malaysians may have flooded the National Stadium in the colours of Arsenal, Liverpool and then Chelsea when they were in Kuala Lumpur, their national pride can't be questioned.
It could have been five years ago and the match against MyTeam comes to mind where the national selection were jeered but this is no longer the case as fans genuinely want to see Malaysian football standing alongside the best in Asia again.
However, they also accept that this will be a bumpy journey for Asia's best play football of a different level compared to where Malaysia are now. The 5-3 defeat to Singapore proved that for defensive blunders aside, the match was always going to be tough.
Singapore may have naturalised players in their ranks but that was not the only reason for their win. Victory was achieved because they made fewer mistakes -- in the first half at least, were more compact as a team and were certainly more consistent over the 90 minutes compared to Malaysia.
That Malaysia have a leaky defence is a fact that was known even before they played Arsenal and Liverpool for Taiwan hit three past them in the second round, return leg and blaming the defence alone, however, should not be the approach as there has to be collective responsibility in the return leg.
To the team's credit, this was seen in the second half on Saturday when the outfield players adopted a more aggressive approach, pinned Singapore back and scored twice to keep themselves within sight of the third round.
The midfielders must also dominate as this will reduce the pressure on the defenders while conceding silly freekicks in the region of the penalty box must be avoided totally.
Thursday's modus operandi must be one of aggression as this is the only approach Malaysia can take in their bid to overturn the two-goal deficit.
There will be the fear of conceding again but it must be overcome and there must be a concerted effort from the team to prove that the defeat in the first leg was just one of those things.
The pressure will be severe, simply because the opposition are Singapore but this should motivate the players to try even harder and they can be sure they won't lack support as the National Stadium should have a decent turnout for the return leg.
Whether it will be 80,000 fans, as was the turnout for the Liverpool and Chelsea ties, remains to be seen but one thing the team can be sure of is that the majority will be in Malaysian colours. There will be millions more who will watch on television while the expression of support online, if Saturday was any indication, will be even more overwhelming.
They will have the show of support they craved in the matches against EPL opposition and the onus now is on the team to beat Singapore and take their place in the third round draw that will be conducted in Brazil at the end of the month.
The team can be sure if this does happen, then they won't have to continue asking fans to wear the national jersey in recognition of their hardwork and achievements.
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