Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Will The Real Johore Team Please Stand Up?

Johor Lays Claim to The Tunku Mahkota Johor Cup

When Daniel Guiza landed on the shores of Malaysia, many was surprised that he was set to sign for the second division side Johor. But in a twist of event, Guiza looks set to be playing in the Super League after all with the newly re-named side Darul Takzim of the former Johor FC.

However in light of the pre-season quadrangular meet in Johor Bahru, many fans were left wondering which team were better: Johor United (formerly Johor) or Darul Takzim?

Johor Darul Takzim hammer Woodlands Wellington in pre-season friendly
Safee Sali (No. 10) in action againts Singapore's Woodlands Wellington
http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/exF..LAljo5eaZNM_SrdJQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0yMzA7cT04NTt3PTM1MA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_SG/News/GOAL.com/242406_hp.jpg



Safiq Rahim and his trademark free-kicks
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Super League teams watching the pre-season opener between Darul Takzim and Woodlands Wellington would better take note that the home side would not rely solely on Safiq Rahim when it comes to free-kicks as Guiza adapt fast to the Malaysian game with a free-kick in as early as the 10th minute. Not to be outdone, Safiq himself too slotted in one of his trademark free-kicks. While Safee Sali partnered well with Guiza to earn a brace, questions were raised if the three times MVP Norsharul Idlan Talha or affectionately known as Mat Yo will be reduced to a super-sub role throughout the season as he did in this 5-1 victory.

 
Mohd Rashid Mohd Aya celebrates his goal
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/268156_416694391732026_1515303918_n.jpg 

Meanwhile Mohd Rashid Mohd Aya who two seasons ago turn up for the orange of Johor FC in the Super League shipped in two goals against newly promoted Pahang to help the second-tier Premier League outfit Johor win by 3-0. Pahang will host Darul Takzim in the season opener on the 8 of January.


 Mat Yo seen here dribbling; created an opening for Mohd Nurul Azwan Roya also his teammate at Kelantan last season  to score the lead in the final
 http://www.nst.com.my/polopoly_fs/1.193406.1356800447!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_454/image.jpg
 

In the final, Johor trail Darul Takzim by one goal going into the half-time before import player Argentinian Muriel "Muri" Orlando replied with two goals, his third in this tournament to help Johor beat the expensively assembled Darul Takzim. This season will mark Muri's second season with the Johor in the second division.

Pahang meanwhile put their disappointment behind by hammering Woodlands Wellington 6-0 in the 3rd placing match held earlier.

As they always say in football, you can never be sure as anything can happen.

Super League 2013 - Darul Takzim (Johor FC)

Darul Takzim FC, formerly known as Johor FC is this seasons most promising team. Last season the club only managed 9th placing in the 14 team Super League with a winning rate of 38%.

Johor FC is one of the few familiar football clubs to have competed actively in the highest level. It has also created history as the first club to be promoted to the Premier League with the then dominant state teams.

As mentioned previously traditional states teams such as Selangor, and Kelantan have larger fan base as compared to clubs such as Johor FC. While the Johor state team struggled to gain promotion to the Super League, Kelantan did a treble while The Armed Forces enlisted the who's who of Malaysian football to win promotion to the Super League and capped a historic appearance in the Malaysia Cup final.


Looking forward to compete with the best just have to wait another season for Johor football fans, but that changed when Johor FA started negotiations with Daniel Guiza the Spanish international striker who helped fan the Spanish football revival with the Euro 2008 title.


Daniel Guiza
 http://football.thestar.com.my/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/s_50guiza.jpg
 http://www.exposay.com/celebrity-photos/daniel-guiza-euro2008-championships-final-germany-vs-spain-june-29-2008-TJreXl.jpg

Ambitious Johor FA signed 6 players from the national team, 4 of whom rekindled the pride of Malaysian football by winning the AFF Suzuki Cup in 2010. The new signings includes Malaysia's first millionaire footballer Safee Sali, MVP since 2010 Norshahrul Idlan Talaha from Kelantan, national skipper Mohd Safiq Rahim from Selangor, Muslim Ahmad from Terengganu and the Radzak twins Aidil Zafuan and Zaquan Adha from the Armed Forces. Completing the European duo will be the Italian wing-back Simone Del Nero from Lazio


 http://www.nst.com.my/polopoly_fs/1.191405.1356366253!/image/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/landscape_454/image.JPG

http://www.nst.com.my/polopoly_fs/1.191405.1356366253!/image/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/landscape_454/image.JPG



The winning members from the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010: No 10. Safee Sali, No.9 Norsharul Idlan Talha, No.24 Muslim Ahmad, No.8 Mohd Safiq
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tIK7xODqtA8/TRne7g4gYgI/AAAAAAAAAis/ocWeEFp2b3U/s1600/malaysia.jpg


But unlike the Armed Forces who signed the stars to play from the second-tier, Johor made a surprise move which will see the star players playing for a new Johor FC now rebranded as Darul Takzim FC and don the red and blue of the state Johor team in place of traditional orange of Johor FC. A sensational team change which surely the Johor fans would be happy to count as their own.

Johor FCJohor
The previous Johor FC badge and the new Darul Takzim badge
http://sokernet.com/liga-malaysia/darul-takzim-fc-nama-baru-johor-johor-fc.html























The new Darul Takzim FC jersey in place of the traditional orange of Johor FC
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As for the state team, it will continue to ply its trade in the second division but as Johor United.

To guide Darul Takzim throughout the 2013 season will be Singapore's legendary player Fandi Ahmad who have spent the previous season with Johor as the technical director. As a coach, Fandi led the Singapore Armed Forces, the most successful team in Singapore to two S.League titles in just three years from 2000 to 2002. A feat the Johor fans hope to replicate.

 

http://www.tnp.sg/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/dlfandi1-1.jpg


2013 Campaign


There are three football divisions in Malaysia
  1. The Super League
  2. The Premier League
  3. The FA League
 Besides divisional football, the Malaysian football season includes:
  1. The Malaysia Cup (the oldest and the most coveted trophy in Malaysia)
  2. The FA Cup
  3. The Charity Cup

Gone were the days when the Malaysian League was compose of the 14 states in Malaysia in addition to Brunei, Singapore, the Armed Forces and Police. While these traditional states are still participating, several clubs are now actively involve albeit being relatively unknown and lacking a strong base of supporters.

So here is an attempt to introduce all the teams for this year's campaign.


The Super League

  1. Kelantan * (Treble Champions, Super League holders since 2011)
  2. Singapore Lions XII (Singapore U-23) [twelve tributed to the fans]
  3. Selangor *
  4. Perak *
  5. Terengganu *
  6. Negeri Sembilan *
  7. PKNS
  8. T-Team
  9. Darul Takzim (Johor FC) 
  10. Felda United
  11. Armed Forces (Premier League Champions)
  12. Pahang *
The Premier League
  1. Sarawak *
  2. Kedah *
  3. Sabah *
  4. Kuala Lumpur *
  5. Sime Darby
  6. Johore *
  7. Police
  8. USM
  9. Pos Malaysia
  10. Harimau Muda B (Malaysia U-23)
  11. Muar
  12. Public Services
 The FA League
  1. Betaria
  2. Perlis *
  3. Shahzan Muda
  4. UiTM
  5. PBAPP
  6. Army
  7. Penang *
  8. Melaka *
  9. Melodi Jaya
  10. Kepala Batas
  11. Johor Bahru


Blogging Objective


Hi,

I like most Malaysians love football, especially English Premier League (EPL).
I however like to read it on the newspaper and online as I have no access to live broadcast.

I however found the local English language newspapers dedicating more space to EPL than local football league.
So this is my naive attempt to see if I can write more about Malaysian football league than currently on offer.

Thank you for reading :D


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Picture from:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/529/81834846.jpg/sr=1
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/19/sarawak/5883690&sec=sarawak