Raja Tan Sri Arshad Uda Datuk Seri Nazir Razak Datuk Jagan Sabapathy Tan Th Iam Hock Sridharan Nair

MALAYSIA | AUGUST 5,5 , 2019

Sridharan Nair

Hock iam Tan Th Datuk Seri Nazir Razak Raja Tan Sri Arshad Uda

Datuk Jagan Sabapathy Op8 AUG 5 2019 COVER STORY

OUR LONG-DISTANCE LOVE AFFAIR

WITH THE NEW EPL SEASON UPON US, BOB HOLMES EXPLORES THE MALAYSIAN OBSESSION WITH ENGLISH FOOTBALL PRIOR TO THE FIRST MATCH ON AUG 9

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY DIANA KHOO Op9 AUG 5 2019

ome call it a religion, others an addiction: Even if it is not quite either, football has an extraordinary hold on us. The Harimau Malaya may be a subterranean 167th in the Fifa world rankings but in a recent survey, Malaysia is placed a lofty sixth out of 200 countries for “interest in football”. For actual “participation”, we were 12th — as we were for “willingness to watch on a phone or a tablet”. No matter how the questions were phrased, our answers put us among the game’s hard core S— above Germany, Italy and even England itself. A new season brings relief that we can resume our viewing rituals. Since they were last observed, we have had the Fifa Women’s World Cup and Copa America, besides the ongoing Malaysian Super League. But for many, all this is methadone — what we crave are the English Premier League (EPL) and UEFA Champions League, whose most recent epics still shimmer in the memory. One Liverpool fan could not let go. After seeing his beloved Reds win a sixth Champions League trophy in Madrid, he fl ew to London, boarded a train to Liverpool and took in the parade as well! Former Malay Mail editor Mustafa Zulkifl i was among the 750,000 souls who turned the city’s streets into throbbing arteries of euphoria. As the open-top bus carrying the players snaked past him, he told Malaysia’s Twenty-two13 that “it was the best 60 seconds of my life”. Liverpool and fervent acts of devotion are not uncommon. When the club came to Malaysia after a long absence, there was a bigger crowd (estimated 60,000) at Bukit Jalil just to watch them train than can be fi tted into Anfi eld. No wonder the KL Kopites are in the Reds’ top 10 fan clubs in the world. Not to be outdone, Manchester United supporters have a house in Petaling Jaya so full of memorabilia it puts Old Traff ord to shame. Fans of both clubs in Sabah and Sarawak can take 24 hours to get to games but call themselves regulars. DATUK The Liverpool-United rivalry among locals underpins the English game’s pre-eminence in Malaysia. Between them, these two giants, like duelling SERI NAZIR dynasties, have jousted for bragging rights throughout the television era. For a quarter of a century, Liverpool looked invincible. Then, it was United’s turn RAZAK, and now the pendulum has swung again. But the banter continues unabated. Arsenal have had their moments and boast a sizeable core of Malaysian Founding fans to outdo Spurs in sheer numbers. But what is telling is that the nouveau riche, Chelsea and Manchester City, despite more recent successes, have only partner and a fraction of the support of the Big Two. Even fallen giants, Leeds and Forest, still have their followers, although neither have been a top fl ight team since chairman, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s fi rst stint as prime minister. Ikhlas Capital Season’s forecast: CONTINUES NEXT PAGE I always liked football and took it very seriously, in the sense that I didn’t have a favourite Club: Chelsea FC team but just enjoyed the pleasure of watching good football by good Fan since: 1993 players. So, when Glenn Hoddle moved to Chelsea [FC] in 1993, my attachment Favourite player: to watching him play evolved into being Glenn Hoddle a Chelsea fan. The recent appointment of Frank Lampard as coach is probably Home squad: Do my kids the most heartwarming, bad decision support Chelsea [FC]? ever. Why? He has only a year’s I think that’s compulsory [in this house], experience in coaching and, from the although I remember the time when the looks of it, Chelsea is going to have twins were seven and they met José a challenging season ahead. We’ve Mourinho in London. Just a few weeks lost our best player and we can’t later, the Special One was sacked [from sign anyone new either, due to the the club]. My son was so traumatised two-window transfer ban. But, at that he didn’t watch football for a whole the same time, we all love Frank, who year. is undoubtedly, our greatest player and, of course, we welcome him back Most memorable match: Munich with open arms. My only hope is 2012, when we (Chelsea) won the that this story does not have a tragic UEFA Champion’s League title. I had ending. Frank will certainly enjoy more gone with a good friend of mine, Mark leeway than anyone else but I fear his Tucker, who is group chairman of inexperience will make this too tough HSBC. Looking at the sheer emotion a job ... although I do desperately hope on his face, that Chelsea has achieved I’m wrong. the pinnacle of football, coupled with the fact that the results were totally Pitch lessons: Football is defi nitely underserved and how we had but a a team game, as are many things in fraction of the plate and almost all life. You can be Lionel Messi, but you chances going to FC Bayern [Munich] can’t win the Copa America. If you ... the match had it all! And, of course, don’t have suffi cient strength in your winning the fi nals with a penalty kick by supporting cast, for work or play, you one of our heroes, Didier Drogba, and can’t win. To me, sometimes having which, as it turns out, was his last kick one superstar individual is worse than a for the club [before he left to test his team of average players who work well fortunes in China]. together.

PICTURES BY HARIS HASSAN; MOHD IZWAN MOHD NAZAM; PATRICK GOH/THE EDGE, SHEN JET NEO AND REUTERS Op10 AUG 5 2019 COVER STORY

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Our fans are more loyal than is generally perceived. And what always strikes expats is how we mirror our UK counterparts. Taking a cue from the same websites and portals, locals embrace the club ethos in much the same way as hometown fans. We even develop the same bias and, when the occasion demands, the same selective blindness. Sporting allegiance can be in our DNA — usually on the paternal side — or at the behest of a friend or partner. For some, though, it can be a childhood memory — a special goal or even a snazzy strip that impacts on an impressionable mind. After all, as Spurs’ legend Danny Blanchfl ower said, “The game is about glory, doing things in style and with a fl ourish.” Those “things” can leave indelible images of grace and skill, and of moments of unsolicited joy. It is why football has nearly four billion followers — more than the world’s two biggest religions combined. And sometimes you wonder whether it should be called “the beautiful game” or “the Holy Game”. Diego Maradona once infa- mously confused his own hand with “God’s” while Pele declared, “Football is a religion to me”. It is easy to make that assumption. Fans congregate once a week at a stadi- um that many equate to a place of worship. Their replica shirts are their robes and they sing, chant and, when things get desperate, they pray. An otherwise non-religious friend speaks of a visit to his club as “doing a pilgrimage” while watching a big game on TV here is “high mass”. No matter how we decide that a particular club is “the one”, we are stuck with it — for better or worse. We can change job, spouse and political party, but apostasy in football is not an option — at least not if we are to retain the respect of our peers. The game was brought to our shores by British sailors who left their ships to TA N THIAM HOCK, Director, BFM 89.9

Club: Arsenal FC believe in spending. The passive ownership is perhaps one of the Fan since: 1971 reasons for Arsenal’s decline over the past decade. Favourite players: Too tough to choose just one, so it would have to be Th ierry Pitch lessons: Football itself is an Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick industry — the players are its assets. Vieira. And here, it is all about asset valuation gone crazy. No one player can or should be worth so much. It is a team game, after all. In a way, this refl ects the digital economy. You see young start-ups asking for crazy valuations and this will lead to an asset bubble or a situation Home squad: I have three grown-up where only a few clubs can aff ord to kids, but only my 26-year-old second pay the rates. In my opinion, there are son is a Gooner like me. not more than 10 clubs in the world that can sustain such spending, which Most memorable match: I’ve been comes with no guarantee of success. to Highbury once, but the Emirates It’s always a big bet, a huge risk and Stadium several times. My favourite the so-called top players take the pie. matches were the ones when Arsenal It is similar to our regular economy. We FC won the FA Cup in 2014 and 2015. tend to forget, aside from the stars, that there are thousands of regular players Season’s forecast: Arsenal needs to who play football in order to make a sign some good names. In this aspect, living. To do well, you have to have a we’ve fallen behind other clubs, very good board and a good commercial particularly Manchester City. We organisation to manage a club. It is not also need to get good young central easy. Oh, and just like football, you need RAJA TAN SRI defenders like Matthijs de Ligt from to know when to get rid of the expensive AFC Ajax. We also need a holding prima donnas who are well past their DATUK SERI midfielder in the Vieira mould. You prime, like [Mesut] Özil, whose brilliance need to build for the future! In that is only occasional and, more recently, ARSHAD UDA, sense, although I agree that manager [Alexis] Sánchez, who left Arsenal to go Arsène Wenger ultimately overstayed, to Manchester United and is now proving Chairman, Maxis he still succeeded in keeping Arsenal impossible to sell as no one wants to pay in the top four for many years despite his salary. a tight budget and a board that didn’t Op11 AUG 5 2019

have a kick-about more than a century ago, as they did in many places, of course. From such accidental evangelists, the football gospel spread around the globe and there was a local league here as early as the 19th century. An example of its pulling power was felt by a select group of converts in Britain just after WWII. To ensure an independent Malaya would have enough teachers for its schools, batches of trainees were sent to Kirkby Teacher Training College in Liverpool throughout the 1950s. Some found themselves going to watch football on weekends, one told me, “for something to do”. And a handful of these venerable “Kirkbyites” — now in their eighties — are still Liverpool supporters to this day. Ironically, it was after independence that the English domestic game gained more of a hold on these shores. In the early television era, glimpses were grainy black-and-white morsels compared with today’s lavish smorgasbord, but they gained a following. Old-timers would be glued to the BBC World Service and devoured newspa- pers. The Malay Mail stole a march as it came out at midday with eagerly awaited overnight results. Even when colour TV came, rations were meagre — usually weekly wrap-ups of league highlights while the FA Cup Final was an annual treat. But backed up by copies of Shoot magazine and the occasional book, it was enough to nurture a deep aff ection among a certain generation. At this time, the local game also took off . Helped by having a prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, as an enthusiast, Merdeka Stadium was built for football as well as independence. It gave its name to — and hosted — Asia’s most pres- tigious tournament of the era. And Malaysia would often win it. It was in the 1970s that football in this country peaked. Inspired by the leg- endary Mokhtar Dahari, we were the best team in Asia. Hard to believe now, but DATUK JAGAN CONTINUES NEXT PAGE SABAPATHY, CEO, Tribeca Capital

Club: Tottenham Hotspur FC who, at half time, had scored two goals. We Club: Manchester United FC would just park the bus, compared with were three down and I thought ‘gone case [manager Alex] Ferguson who favoured Fan since: Th e early 1960s, when I started already’. I’m a bit superstitious, so I tried Fan since: I’ve been a fan for more than a more aggressive style of play and to secondary school. Spurs was the fi rst not to watch the start of the second half, 45 years! score more goals than you concede. English football club to win the double — the hoping it would change Spurs’ luck — which Th e club also has a lot of history, from League and FA Cup — and also the fi rst to it did! To equalise and win with 3-2 in the Favourite player: the Busby Babes era and all that. I’m win the Cup Winners’ Cup under their most last minute of extra time was unbelievable! Cristiano Ronaldo, confi dent we’ll make the top four and successful manager, Bill Nicholson. And it Further back, it was the 1966 World Cup. because he is the I was hoping we would sign [Antoine] was even better when I went to the UK in Not because of Spurs, of course, but the most complete player Griezmann from Atlético Madrid. But 1965 as a student. I was a strong Spurs fan fact that Jimmy Greaves had been part of ever to don a jersey at I’ve heard he has since signed with by then as they had my favourite player, the team. It was a great pity he got injured Manchester United (MU). Barcelona. We need a top-notch England international Jimmy Greaves. Th en, and was substituted by Geoff Hurst who, He’s an incredible athlete with lots of centre-back and I heard the club has you had captain of the Northern Irish team of course, went on to play in the fi nals and pace; powerful and strong in the air and been trying to get Harry Maguire from Danny Blanchfl ower and players like Bobby scored the historic hat-trick that gave with his feet, and an absolute match- Leicester City. At the end of the day, Smith, who was a big centre-forward but, England a 4-2 victory over West Germany winner. And looking at what he has we have had so many dream signings. my, he was fast! So many notable names at Wembley! achieved just reinforces that fact. We’ve got to step up. then. Season’s forecast: Th e last three years have Home squad: My son is a fellow supporter Pitch lessons: Whether it is on or off the Favourite player: Jimmy been a bit diffi cult, in the sense that we are while my wife and daughter are totally not pitch, it is about managing the young Greaves. To me, he is the always in the top four, but somehow falter interested. people. Compared with, say, 20 years ultimate forward. He played at the last stretch. Of course, I do hope for ago, they are diff erent — in attitude, for England, was a great a top-of-the-league result, especially now Most memorable match: I think my fi rst maturity and social outlook. When dribbler and a prolifi c goal- that we have tasted the fi nals. We hope to visit to Old Traff ord [Stadium] was in Ferguson ran the shop, it was very much scorer, scoring 266 goals go on to a win! Th e present squad is good the 1970s when I was still a university a “my way or the highway” style of in 379 appearances. He was a with [Harry] Kane and Son [Heung-min] student in Edinburgh. I’ve watched a lot leadership and players then could accept really fantastic player and I idolised him. upfront. On paper, we have quite a lot of of live matches, but the last few were such authority. Managers today need to good signings — Olympique Lyonnais player bad as we lost every time. If I had to pick be able to deal with young talent while Home squad: In my family, I am the fi rst [Tanguy] Ndombele, [Giovani] Lo Celso from one, it would be Manchester United acknowledging the fact that they earn Spurs fan. My uncles and cousins like Real Betis and Ryan Sessognon from Fulham versus Arsenal on April 14, 1999, during zillions of dollars. You need to constantly Arsenal more. I’m glad my son Amir followed FC. Hopefully, all these will enable us to the FA Cup semi-fi nal. I remember it so keep them motivated — and it is all about in my footsteps — not in career but [the fi nally win the League. But what I’d really well — [David] Beckham and [Dennis] instant gratifi cation now. Th ey move choice of] club. Th is was particularly the like to see is Gareth Bale returning to White Bergkamp scored while [Roy] Keane quickly, get bored fast, need constant case after watching Spurs, with the help Hart Lane. got sent off . [Peter] Schmeichel saved praise and want to be paid well. And if of a young Gareth Bale, destroy Europe’s a penalty in the closing minutes. [Ryan] it is not about the money, it is about reigning champion Inter Milan FC, scoring Pitch lessons: Football, like most other Giggs intercepted a ball in his own challenges, fulfi lment and balance. Young 3-1 in their fi rst UEFA Champion’s League sport, teaches you about [the importance half, weaving through the Arsenal people today are multi-skilled, what participation in the 2010/11 season. Th is was of] teamwork, fi tness and discipline. And defence and smashed it into their net. more with technology and a stream of when he bought me the away jersey you how to stay cool and not get provoked Absolute magic. MU 2-Arsenal 1 — and readily available information. So, you see me holding in the picture. My two sons- despite the situation. I take my hat off to pandemonium erupted. MU went on to need to be able to keep your team wired, in-law, however, support Liverpool! We try players who remain cool and calm, and try win the treble that year! enthusiastic, motivated and dedicated not to watch a match together if the two not to protest despite, say, the unfairness to their career. Th e jury is still out on [Ole teams are playing each other lest we either of the referee or letting the situation aff ect Season’s forecast: Growing up, there Gunnar] Solskjær. I have no doubt that he become not too civilised with one another their game. I say that’s an achievement were a few popular clubs then — will get along with the team, but whether or risk casting the relationship aside. already. Look at [Zinadine] Zidane, an Liverpool, Spurs, Leeds — but I chose or not he possesses the skill to manage elegant player who spectacularly lost his MU as it had charm and played very a top-notch team in a competitive world Most memorable match: It was actually cool in the fi nals. It is easier said than done, exciting football. After all, people watch remains to be seen. He has got his work the second leg of the recent UEFA especially if you are an onlooker and not on a match to be entertained. Under more than cut out for him. Th is, we will Champion’s League semi-fi nal against the pitch. Mourinho, this was not the case and fi nd out soon enough. Ajax. We had conceded one goal to Ajax the team would score and then he Op12 AUG 5 2019 COVER STORY

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with the likes of Soh Chin Aun and Santokh Singh, the soccer samurais of Japan were regularly put to the sword. As were South Korea. Sadly, that golden generation had no successors worthy of the name and, as Japan and South Korea got their acts together, Malaysia plummeted. We know the rest. The nadir was the mid-1990s corruption scandal. As the two North Asian neighbours became regulars at the World Cup, Malaysia had a season ticket to the Hall of Shame. Match-fi xing saw a slide in the rankings, which happily has been arrested. At last, there are glimmers of hope for a better future. Crowds outside KL have held up and viewing fi gures show there is still a huge appetite for local football. Malaysia’s run to the fi nal of last year’s Suzuki Cup stopped the nation. But it was when the domestic game was at its lowest ebb that English football capitalised. Rebranding to call its top division the Premier League, it caught the rising tide of satellite TV. Combined with a slick marketing campaign and early kick-off s, the all-guns-blazing fare proved irresistible. The luck and the wind was with the EPL. Initially, the reason for the early kick- off s was to prevent hooliganism — British police believing that a lower alcohol intake would reduce fan violence. No one was thinking it would coincide with Malaysia’s peak viewing time. The lubricant for all this has been the English language. From the early days through Merdeka to the modern era, everything has been in English. And now we have the websites, the blogs and the banter. Just ask La Liga, who are trying to make inroads, what an advantage this is and they will tell you trying to wean Malaysians off it is like asking us to stop eating nasi lemak. The EPL is praised as one of Britain’s greatest exports and former British prime minister David Cameron once mentioned that “Malaysian schoolchildren would be watching” in a speech on its global impact. The reasons for its dominance are manifold. The EPL can only claim to have truly been the best last season when it provided all four fi nalists to Europe’s two SRIDHARAN competitions, but it has always been the most entertaining. Its all-action, never- say-die style also means it is the least predictable. Only in England could a 5,000-1 NAIR, shot win the league as Leicester City did in 2016. Instead of the same one or two clubs running away with the title, as happens in Managing partner, Spain, Italy, France and Germany, there are six so-called Big Boys and no “holiday matches”. This ensures a “Big Six” encounter on most weekends of the season and PwC a more compelling race throughout. And even if either Liverpool or United are having an “off season”, their clash is always the most talked about. So, a certain normality returns to life this weekend. As someone once said, “Sport Club: can seem in a diff erent dimension from real life, but it makes reality a whole lot Liverpool FC Brendan Rodgers, was fantastic. I also didn’t make it to either Kiev or Madrid more bearable”. For some of us, football takes it to another level. E Fan since: My childhood, more than although I had a great time watching it 40 years ago. It all started when my at a pub with friends. dad bought copies of Shoot, a football magazine for my brother and I. Th at’s Season’s forecast: Th e Holy Grail how we read about the game and for Liverpool has always been the proceeded to pick our teams. I chose Premiership. Last year was a case of a Liverpool [FC] while my brother picked good season becoming great because Leeds [United FC]. we won the Champion’s League. I am concerned that we have not Favourite player: My strengthened the team with one or two all-time favourite is additional forwards, but we should fi nish Kevin Keegan, followed in the top four and, with a bit of luck, by Kenny Dalglish maybe make it to the top of the table and Steven Gerrard. this season. Jürgen Klopp normally buys All three epitomise early on in the season as he knows the Liverpool — based on their players he wants and goes after them, passion and what it means to be able but his message is not so clear this to play for the club. round. Besides the forwards, I think a creative midfi elder might be the missing Home squad: My older boy is a Spurs piece in our jigsaw puzzle. fan — one of my failings as a father. Th e younger one has not made up his Pitch lessons: What Klopp really mind yet although he is, at this juncture, emphasises is team ethos versus the supporting Wolverhampton Wanderers superstar. He pushes that very hard. FC. Th eir gold jersey presumably has And, just like PwC, we never operate as something to do with it, but he is more individuals because working together is into the Bundesliga, with Borussia one of our values. In fact, José Mourinho Dortmund being his preferred German recently praised Klopp in a post-match team. commentary after Liverpool’s stunning Champion’s League comeback against Most memorable match: Although I’ve Barcelona FC to make their second been to Anfi eld [Stadium] many times, straight European fi nal, lauding his work the most recent visit being December ethic and team ethos, which have carried last year, I have never watched any his team through. Of course, there are real deciding key matches while there. a handful of managers and players Th e matches that were memorable with such personas and who are such tend to be more of the midweek inspirational fi gures themselves that Champion’s League games. Unlike they ride above this. But, in the end, we premiership matches, the atmosphere must remember that no one is bigger of these, particularly in the time of than the club.