The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2011 04:00 PM PST DEC 16 — Continuing my look at how the recent draw for the next Uefa European Championship, to be held in June/July 2012, turned out, it brings me to Group B, otherwise known as the Group of Death. Whatever one may say about the luck of the draw, historically, there just always has to be one Group of Death in every major tournament. With three former champions, the two most recent runners-up, and two traditional rivals — you can surely figure out who's who — in Germany, Holland, Denmark and Portugal, every match just promises to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Well, it promises to be, anyway. We will see when the time comes. So, the draw placed Portugal as the weakest team to qualify, as they qualified through the playoffs. The Portuguese will need to transform themselves into more than just a one-man team if they harbour any hope of progress beyond the group stages. The over reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo, and his desire to do it alone too, hampers their play. He was the player under the most pressure in South Africa 2010 and, unfortunately, will carry the same tag into Euro2012, which is jointly hosted by Ukraine and Poland. Incidentally, the Danes took top spot in their qualifying group ahead of Portugal. Both teams had an almost identical record, bar two significant matches that didn't go Portugal's way — a 4-4 draw at home to Cyprus and a 1-0 loss away to Norway. Yes, 4-4 at HOME to tiny Cyprus. Fortunately, Ronaldo and Co got over that by winning 4-0 in the return leg. That is why I believe that Denmark will not relish meeting Portugal again in Euro2012 proper. The Danes just do not look capable of matching a more focused and effective Portuguese side. In a one-off game, the Portuguese could hit form against a very dour Denmark. The latter do have experience but are very short on top quality players unless Nicklas Bendtner turns world class overnight on the pitch. Which is surely not going to happen in a club like Sunderland. The other two countries in Group B, Holland and Germany, have a much longer history of rivalry at the top level of international football. The Dutch, with a backbone of players who took them to the World Cup final last year, could still spring a surprise with their know-how and determination. There seems to be a lot of rumours coming from the dressing room, let alone the Dutch tabloids, on the lack of team spirit that is vital in any competition. Which is kinda frustrating when you look at the strength of quality among certain individual players in every department on the pitch. That quality must surely have helped them to come through the qualifying rounds with only one loss, that too in their final match, after nine consecutive victories. So, I would be willing to go out on a limb and say that they do look like the favourites to win the group. Of course, the Germans might disagree. But despite having the best record in the qualifying rounds — 10 wins out of 10 matches for maximum points — Germany are in a transitional period after their amazing WC2010 adventure . The abundance of riches in the squad could prove more of a bane to team selection than a boon. Still, the squad has tremendous togetherness, which has always been their strength, no matter who plays for Germany. I dare say that the Germans will actually go into Euro2012 as the second most exciting team after Spain. And whether they are top of the group or second, I believe Germany have the ability to become European Champions... provided Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich's super striker) can score goals and Bastien Schweinsteiger is fit enough to drive the team. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Polemik dalaman PAS, garis politik akhirnya dilukis Posted: 15 Dec 2011 03:43 PM PST 16 DIS — Sebaik sahaja keputusan PRU 12 diumumkan, cerita-cerita tentang perkahwinan politik diantara PAS dan Umno tidak pernah berhenti. Di negeri Selangor, diberitakan terdapat usaha untuk mengahwinkan kedua musuh tradisi bagi membentuk kerajaan kononnya untuk memastikan hak orang-orang Melayu terbela. Begitu juga di negeri Perak, terdapat juga usaha yang sama. Sayang seribu kali sayang. Tahun 2008 bukanlah seperti tahun 60an atau 70an dahulu dimana retorik politik Melayu laku untuk dijual. Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak tidak seuntung ayahnya. Dahulu arwah Tun Abdul Razak mampu untuk menarik PAS menyertai Barisan Nasional (BN). Kini, tidak mudah lagi bagi Najib untuk mengulangi kejayaan ayahnya kerana keadaan semasa tidak lagi seperti dahulu. Dari mula cerita tentang kerajaan perpaduan diantara Umno-PAS keluar sehinggalah hari ni, nama bekas timbalan presiden, Nasharuddin Mat Isa dan Exco Negeri Selangor, Dr Hasan Ali tidak henti-henti disebut. Kedua-dua pemimpin ini dilihat sebagai fraksi "Umno" di dalam PAS. Pada mulanya kedudukan mereka begitu kuat di dalam parti. Nasharuddin sebagai timbalan presiden dan Hasan sebagai Pesuruhjaya Selangor — negeri pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat (PR). Garis politik dilukis Pemilihan kepimpinan PAS dalam muktamar lalu menyaksikan "signal" jelas daripada ahli parti tersebut. Majoriti ahli-ahli PAS tidak mahu perkahwinan dengan Umno. Nasharuddin tersungkur ditangan ayam sabung PAS, Mohamad Sabu. Hasan Ali tidak dipilih semula sebagai Pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor. Baru-baru ini, Ketua Penerangan PAS Selangor, Shaari Sungib mengumumkan bahawa Hasan Ali tidak mendapat cukup pencalonan dari cawangan-cawangan parti tersebut untuk melayakkan beliau dipilih semula sebagai calon kerusi DUN Gombak Setia. Akhirnya Setiausaha Agung PAS, Datuk Mustafa Ali — diketahui umum sebagai orang kuat Presiden PAS — mengatakan Hasan dan Nasharuddin terperangkap dalam agenda Umno. "Saya buat kesimpulan, mereka berdua terheret dengan agenda (Umno) yang boleh menjejaskan parti. Sama ada mereka sedar atau tidak sedar, mereka sebenarnya terperangkap dalam agenda musuh politik PAS. "Ini sangat tidak wajar dan tidak baik bagi PAS walaupun tidak memberikan kesan besar bagi parti," kata beliau. Naib Presiden PAS, Datuk Mahfuz Omar lebih keras lagi. Katanya PAS tidak akan menghalang Hasan Ali untuk keluar parti dan menyertai Umno kerana parti tersebut percaya kepada demokrasi. "Isu keluar parti ini PAS sudah lama lalui dah. Presiden parti pun pernah keluar. "Tetapi PAS masih terus berjalan seperti biasa," katanya merujuk kepada keluarnya presiden keempat parti Islam itu Datuk Asri Muda pada tahun 1982 akibat krisis kepimpinan. Hasan Ali dan Nasharuddin Mat Isa adalah wira bagi Umno. Utusan Malaysia dan TV3 menyokong kuat kedua-dua ahli politik tersebut. Di dalam politik tidak begitu susah untuk menilai. Apabila musuh politik menyokong sesuatu perkara — dilakukan oleh sesuatu kelompok dalam kumpulan kita, sudah pasti apa yang dilakukan itu menguntungkan mereka dan merugikan kita. Persoalan Melayu dan Islam hanyalah "Ajinomoto" untuk menyedapkan cerita. Akhirnya kepimpinan PAS melukis garis politik jelas. Perkahwinan dengan seteru politik zaman berzaman tidak mungkin berlaku saat ini. Hasan dan Nasha gagal untuk melaksanakan misi mengahwinkan PAS dan Umno. Tambahan pula dengan barisan kepimpinan seperti Mohamad Sabu, Salahuddin Ayub, Husam Musa dan Mahfuz Omar, ianya tidak mungkin berlaku. Apabila Mustafa yang mesra dengan panggilan Cikgu Pa juga telah bersuara, Hadi pasti senada. Hasan dan Nasha pasti akan dikenang sebagai pemimpin yang gagal untuk mengahwinkan PAS dan Umno. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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