Malaysian Double Trouble: Aidil Zafuan & Zaquan Adha

Malaysians are not just blessed with their attractive Twin Towers of Petronas KLCC, they also have an eye catching twin in their football scenery. Most Malaysians must be familiar with the sight of twin brothers from Negeri Sembilan playing in the Malaysian Super League and also representing Malaysia on the international stage. They are, (if readers still don’t have any idea), Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak and Mohd Zaquan Adha Abdul Radzak. This year both are reaching 27 years of age and it seems like they have been in Malaysian football forever as they started getting Malaysian’s attention very early. It has been 12 to 14 years already since both burst into the Malaysian football, the similar duration football fans have known about Wayne Rooney’s existence when he made big move signing to Manchester United. Aidil and Zaquan started their professional career for their beloved Negeri Sembilan in 2004 when they helped them to win the gold medal in SUKMA 2004 men’s football. After that triumph, both were quickly promoted into the Negeri Sembilan’s senior squad. And in 2005/2006 season, they helped Negeri Sembilan to win their first Malaysian Super League. At this time, most Malaysian fans already knew and aware of their wonderful ability and also their good looking appearances.

Aidil and Zaquan joined Malaysian U-20 national team in 2004/2005 season and then subsequently were called into the Malaysian senior national team in 2007/2008 season. Both were already the familiar faces in youth international competitions as they started since they were 14 years old. They have helped Malaysian team to win some memorable competitions namely the Merdeka Tournament, Southeast Asia Games, and others. Off the pitch, the twin has also offered their services in becoming the model for new national jersey presentation and other sponsorship activities. In all, they are the face of Malaysian football in this modern era and the place where the Malaysian new generations of football fans put their hopes on.

Although they are twin, Aidil and Zaquan are of different positions and abilities. Aidil plays as a defender, while Zaquan is a striker. Aidil is not known for his tough tackling but he is quick in intercepting the through ball attributed by his pace and good coordination. Aidil is also known in the Malaysian Super League as a killer crosser and outstanding free-kicks taker having assisting from the flanks and scoring long and middle distance free-kicks. Zaquan on the other hand is good in scoring as he scored 62 goals in 126 appearances for Negeri Sembilan. But persistent knee injuries prevent him from improving his career goals as he frequently being sidelined for a long period.

Aidil and Zaquan always played together in the same clubs since they started. Rumors said that when clubs were interested in signing one of the twin brothers, they have to take them both as a package. It’s like a double swoop and also a coup for any clubs, considering their big reputations in Malaysia and also their decent football abilities. When their contracts at Negeri Sembilan were running down in 2008, many clubs were vying to sign them. Even a top club from Slovakia was rumored to be interested in the twin. But they showed their loyalty and then continued playing for Negeri Sembilan until 2012. Then after that, an upcoming club named Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) approached the twin to join them. ATM was very ambitious as they were looking to get a straight promotion into the Malaysian Super League from the lower league, Malaysian Premier League. Their ambition to sign Aidil and Zaquan was a big statement of intent. In the end both signed for ATM. The move was a major success as they helped ATM to win the Premier League in the same year and ATM was automatically promoted to the Super League. At this time, the twin’s stock rise even higher and the big fish of the Super League came calling. Johor Darul Takzim (JDT), a rebranded team of Johor FC, were very interested in signing the twin as part of their own project of creating a ‘Malaysian’s Galacticos’. Upon hearing JDT signing big named players such as Safiq Rahim, Safee Sali, Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, and others, Aidil and Zaquan didn’t hesitate to join JDT. In 2013 they finally signed for JDT. Zaquan’s knee injury strucked him again last year and he was then being pushed down to the sister’s club of JDT, which is JDT II as a result of his lack of appearances. Meanwhile, Aidil helped JDT to win their first ever Malaysian league title in this year’s 2014 edition. The superb performances all year from Aidil has forced the new national team coach, Dollah Salleh, to appoint him as the new permanent captain of Malaysia replacing his JDT’s teammate, Safiq Rahim. The new added responsibility made Aidil’s reputation even bigger. It is hoped that his twin, Zaquan, can get fully fit from his injury quickly and join Aidil in creating more history and making the nation proud by winning more international competitions. When they manage to that, it will be no surprised if Malaysian people are proud of two twins in the future. One being the Petronas Twin Towers and the other one being the Malaysian twin footballers… 

Downfall of Lyon

Avid fans of the UEFA Champions League will surely remember Lyon (or Olympique Lyonnais) during their participations in that competition for the past 5-10 seasons backwards. Lyon was once a club of a household name in European football. They created history by winning the French league for a consecutive SEVEN (7) times in a row from 2001/2002 season till 2007/2008 season. During that time of dominations, Lyon was an almost unstoppable team both in France and Europe. Adding to that fact, Lyon has had a number of big named players in the mould of Karim Benzema, Hatem Ben Arfa, Michael Essien, Hugo Lloris, Mahamadou Diarra, Gregory Coupet, Eric Ebidal, Sidney Govou, Jeremy Toulalan, Lisandro Lopez, and Florent Malouda among others. But one player that stood out above the rest of these great players is Juninho Pernambucano.

Juninho is still considered the biggest legend in Lyon. He was among the only players that involved in all those seven league titles run-in. He scored almost 100 goals in 350 appearances for Lyon. Juninho was famous for his bending free-kicks and was widely considered as the best free-kicks takers of all time. His free-kicks technique is legendary. His goals through free-kicks were still live in the memory of The Writer because the way Juninho took them was almost perfect, even in the tightest of angle. Goalkeepers and defenders during that time were clueless to stop Juninho and that made Lyon as one of the most feared team in the Champions League once upon a time. Just to toughen up these statements, Lyon never won the French league before the arrival of Juninho. That tells the readers on how influential Juninho was to Lyon. In 2009, Juninho finally decided to end his stay at Lyon. And during his last press conference to bid his farewell, he only stayed speechless alongside the club president, Jean Aulas. The heart must felt too heavy for Juninho to leave Lyon, but The Writer thinks Lyon is the one that felt the farewell too much to bear. 

Lyon never reached the same height again after the departure of Juninho. Other stars also decided to leave Lyon and the club never managed to attract the biggest name of superstars. This contributes to Lyon’s poor performances in the French league and they also didn’t qualify for the Champions League to this day. The re-emergence of Paris Saint Germain and Monaco further kicks Lyon down the pecking order in the French league. The Writer hopes Lyon can be great again in the future as it is too heartbreaking to see one of the giants of European football slip away slowly from radar...

England's Sorry State

It’s official! Wayne Rooney has been selected as the new England national team captain. It’s actually a matter of time really as the other two candidates, Gary Cahill and Joe Hart, are not quite the England’s best player that the nation wants to shoulder their hope on. In truth this media circus of England captaincy was becoming a joke really. So many attentions were put into this irrelevant issue which made people quickly forget on England’s failure in the recent World Cup Brazil. Even other nations’ new captaincy announcement is not being made as too public as in England, yet they succeed on the pitch when it really matters. When the Rooney’s captaincy news broke up, suddenly all are brimming with a newly-found confidence that England can finally win a major international competition with EURO 2016 in France looks really realistic. But England’s problems are far from being solved and the crisis may deepen with the retirement of two of their better players in ex-captain, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

England loss of these star players even when they are still consistently playing for their clubs is a miserable situation. Surely England may still benefit from having any of Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, and Ashley Cole in their squad. However, excessive media scrutinies in England on poor international showings make these players don’t really care in representing the national team any more even in their golden age of 35 and above. Their absence may bring bless in other young players to come through to the senior squad. The latest selection of Fabian Delph, Danny Rose, and Jack Colback among others, is a welcome news for the England fans who are hungry for the long-awaited success on the international stages. Fans want a new-looked team with a new style of play. Even The Writer wants it too! The constant failure of England is really appalling to people who really want to see them succeed. Roy Hodgson, the England national team manager (don’t know how he is still in the job), must change the system and tactics. England doesn’t have to play a safe and elegant styled of football. It never worked for them. They need to attack other teams with aggressiveness and they need to score more to boost confidence. The sight of their former prolific scorers such as Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer is an important element for the current England team to thrive in the future if they manage to unearthed new prolific strikers of their own. Because goals win the team matches. Hopefully Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley, Luke Shaw and their teammates will put a braver effort to attacking football in the future and make England a real contender again.

Meanwhile, The Writer is not really satisfied with the latest England’s squad selections. Although there are many newcomers, the squad may still benefit from other unselected in-form players. EPL fans may know Ryan Shawcross of Stoke City and Mark Noble of West Ham. They are a proven consistent performer for their clubs, week in week out. They are also captains for their clubs. Roy Hodgson reluctance to select them into the England squad is bizarre. From The Writer’s point of view, both players can really improve the England squad with their unrivalled determinations and proven ability. Their appearances for small EPL clubs are one of the factors why they are not selected by Hodgson. Hodgson likes to pick boys from bigger clubs. His selections of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, who are not performing for so long now, are scandalous. Selections must be on merit, and Hodgson seems fail to do that. If Hodgson still carry on this preferred style of managing England, the FA needs to replace him as soon as he can. EPL is one of the best leagues in the world, so the national team must also show the same credential. The last triumph of 1966 World Cup was too old a memory. New generations need new success, for players and fans alike...