2018 ASIAN GAMES: ARRIVAL

Yesterday marked my arrival at the 18th Asian Games 2018 when the Air Asia flight QZ203 touched down at the Soekarno Hatta International Airport.

The arrival was at the brand new Terminal 3 which should give all the participants at the games a good impression of the host as everything was in good condition.

Mind you that it is a long walk from your arrival gate to the exit. However they provide you with a buggy service so you can get there faster. As usual my preference was to walk.

After the long walk, I arrived at the Asian Games accreditation site which was manned by volunteers who were ready to assist you through the process.

However, I was surprised when they said it was for officials and athletes only and not for the others, such as us the media people. It was rectified a short while later and I was given the necessary stickers and lanyard for my accreditation card.

The organiser provided an express lane for Asian Games delegates going through the immigration process but once again to my dismay that someone said it was for athletes and officials only. 

However, I was still ushered to the express lane anyway by a volunteer and the immigration process took less than five minutes which was good, perhaps due to the fact there were not many of the delegates arriving at that time.

Once I got outside the process, there were many volunteers outside waiting to assist the delegates to go to their next destination, in my case the old Terminal 2 where I was meeting the rest of Asiana members who would be arriving later.

The three terminals and the Soekarno Hatta Train Station were connected by a train facility called the Skytrain. It is free and passengers have to go their respective stations and wait for the trains which were scheduled to arrive between 7 to 10 minutes intervals.

I was ushered all the way to Terminal 2 by the volunteers which was good. Upon arrival there I saw a location stating Asian Games Transportation though upon checking once again was told by volunteers they were for officials and athletes only.

It was different from my experience at Incheon, Korea covering the previous Asian Games. There anybody with an Asian Games accreditation card was entitled to board any bus to the city which in my case to go to the Main Press Centre (MPC).

Of course one should take it as another opportunity to explore another mode of transportation from the Soekarno Hatta Airport to the city, which was the new train service similar to the one in Malaysia, The KLIA Transit.

It was likened to the Transit as the train made a few stops along the way, which in this case Duri and Batu Ceper. It cost IDR70,000 and it is a cashless transaction which in my case using my Visa debit card at the ticketing machine.

The train itself was brand new and they have USB charging ports in between the seats in case you feel like replenishing your gadget’s battery.

The view was something else as the train go through its route with the sight of paddy fields and kids enjoying playing in the villages which was quite soothing to the eyes. 

Then as the train was nearing the city, those sights were replaced by the harsh reality of life in the metropolitan city of Jakarta as you could observe houses built very close to one another and the condition was quite bad. 

The journey ended at the Sudirman Station but I could not get the necessary direction from the station staff on how to go to my next destination, the MPC at the Jakarta Convention Centre. 

So, I took the next best option in Jakarta which was the Go-Jek, a Grab like ride hailing service on motorcycles. As I did not install the apps on my phone I chose to flag one after he had dropped off a passenger at the station.

The ride took me through Jakarta infamous traffic and I could feel the different when riding in Kuala Lumpur and in Jakarta which I feel one word could describe it: intense.

The rider took me right to the gate of the JCC and it cost me IDR30,000.

There I bumped into a few familiar faces from Malaysia before making my way to the MPC to collect my Asian Games vest. The rest of the Asiana colleagues who took the taxi from the airport had arrived earlier.

The first day ended with us checking in at an apartment in at Sudirman Park and after a hearty meal at Sederhana which was located nearby, it was time to call it a night.

THE 2018 MALAYSIA CUP DRAW

The draw for the 2018 Malaysia Cup competition took place today with the sixteen teams qualified for the tournament were divided into four groups.

Group A saw Super League runners-up, Perak were drawn with fellow Super League sides Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur and Premier League side, Felcra.

In Group B, PKNS will have Melaka United, Premier League champions Felda United and the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) as company.

Super League champions, Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) were drawn into Group C and are favourites to progress with another slot would be fought between Kedah, Kelantan and MIFA.

Meanwhile FA Cup winners, Pahang, Selangor, PKNP and Premier League side Sabah were drawn together in Group D.

The competition will begin on 4 August.

DEFEAT FOR TERENGGANU & PAHANG ALLOW PERAK TO FINISH AS SUPER LEAGUE RUNNER-UP

Terengganu and Pahang failed to take advantage of Perak defeat to PKNS last night to grab the runners-up spot in the Super League when they lost their last match against Selangor and Kelantan respectively.

The 4-1 defeat suffered by Mehmet Durakovic's side in Shah Alam left them with 36 points and the two East Coast side, both on 34 points going into tonight's match only needed to win to emerge as runners-up to Johor Darul Ta'zim and a possible place in next season Asian competition.

However The Turtles missing two of their influential players, Lee Tuck and Thierry Bin in their midfield failed to rise to the occasion and lost 2-0 to Selangor, which literally had nothing to play for except pride.

Meanwhile The Elephants succumbed 2-1 in Kota Bahru to a Kelantan side looking to confirm their place in this season Malaysia Cup competition with a win following Negeri Sembilan defeat to Melaka United last night.

The defeat saw Pahang and Terengganu remained in fourth and fifth place respectively with PKNS surprising everyone by finishing third behind Perak.

IT'S FIVE IN A ROW FOR JDT

Johor Darul Ta’zim secured their fifth successive Super League title after winning their match against Perak in Ipoh last night. 

Photo courtesy of: Asiana.my

Second placed Perak seemed to have denied The Southern Tigers from doing that when they took the lead in the 72nd minute through Norhakim Hassan.

The former Terengganu forward good first touch took the ball under his control from a pass by Wander Luiz before unleashing a stiff shot past Farizal Marlias.

However, the visitors pulled level through Singaporean midfielder, Hariss Harun three minutes later when he stole in front of the Perak defence to head home the ball from a free-kick.

Then seven minutes from time Safawi Rashid headed home the winner after a good run on the left by Gonzalo Cabrera before the Argentine delivered a perfect cross into the penalty box.

TERENGGANU MOVED TO THIRD AFTER 3-1 WIN OVER KL

Terengganu jumped into third place, a point behind The Bos Gaurus after registering a 3-1 win over Kuala Lumpur in Kuala Terengganu.

The Turtles who were expected to collect all three points from this match based on The City Boys poor record on the road however were shocked when Guilherme De Paula headed the visitors into the lead in the 33rd minute.

The Brazillian kept up his good goalscoring record against Terengganu by heading the ball past a stranded Suffian Rahman from a free-kick by Paulo Josue, aided by the misjudgment of Igor Zonjic who was trying to head the ball but completely missing it.

It seemed for a while that Kuala Lumpur could be doing a double over Terengganu with their former goalkeeper, Sharbinee Allawee was once again in a good form.

Then in the 38th minute Terengganu were level when Abdul Malik Ariff touched the ball home after a good delivery by full-back, Hafizal Mohamad from the right. It was the former Kuantan player first competitive goal for Terengganu.

The Turtles started the second half brightly by forcing a free-kick at the edge of the Kuala Lumpur penalty box but Do Dong-Hyun missed the goal by just a whisker.

Then in the 53rd minute Terengganu took the lead for the first time in the match when Zonjic made up for his first half error by heading home a corner kick by Lee Tuck.

The home side confirmed all the three points by snatching the winner in added time at the end of the ninety minutes when their skipper, Tchétché Kipré’s low delivery across the goal was turned in by substitute, Abdul Latiff Suhaimi.

MELAKA COMPLETED LEAGUE DOUBLE OVER KEDAH

Meanwhile at the Hang Jebat Stadium, Melaka completed their league double over Kedah by winning their encounter with a 4-1 scoreline. They have earlier recorded a 2-0 win over The Red Eagles in Alor Setar in early June.

Khair Jones and Gopinathan Ramachandra gave the home side a 2-0 lead at the interval before Kedah pulled one back through a penalty by striker, Paolo Rangel in the 53rd minute.

However, Melaka continued to dominate and Gopinathan scored his second of the night in the 62nd minute before Ifedayo Omosuyi scored five minutes before time to complete the rout over the visitors.

GERMAN MENTAL STRENGTH ON SHOW AS THEY COME FROM BEHIND AGAINST SWEDEN

Germany mental strength was on show last night as they fought back from a goal down against Sweden to register their first win at the 2018 FIFA World Cup with virtually the last kick of the match.

Photo courtesy of www.fifa.com

After their shock defeat to Mexico in the first outing in Russia, Joachim Löw men needed to win this match while the Swedes could do with a draw after winning their opening match against South Korea.

They started well, creating a number of openings which gave them the confidence that they will get the result they wanted but on the half hour mark, Toni Kroos pass was intercepted by Sebastian Larrson.

The ball was spreaded wide to Viktor Claesson who then made a searching pass that eventually found Ola Toivonen who made his run into the box. The Toulouse forward then just lifted the ball over the advancing Manuel Neuer to give his team the lead.

The holders needed to come up with something special but the way they performed for the rest of the first half it looked like they were on their way home from the group stage, emulating the fates of France (2002), Brazil (2010) and Spain (2014).

Whatever Löw did in the dressing room during the interval was highly effective as his men came out blazing in the second half and just three minutes into it the score was level.

Timo Werner made a run down the left hand side before delivering a low ball across the Swedish goal. Mario Gomez missed it but Marco Reus did not, connecting with the ball with the upper part of his leg which was enough to divert it past the stranded Robin Olsen.

The Copenhagen goalkeeper then proceeded to frustrated the Germans with a number of brilliant saves and it looked like Olsen had done enough to ensure a point for his side as the match entered it’s fifth minute of stoppage time.

The Germans were playing with just ten men after defender Jérōme Boateng received his second yellow card in the 82nd minute and were looking for a break, especially after seeing substitute Julian Brandt hitting the post with a shot from outside the box earlier.

It came when a foul by substitute Jimmy Durmaz presented Germany with a free-kick just outside the Sweden penalty box. A short tap by Tony Kroos to Reus set the Real Madrid player for a shot that had Olsen completely beaten and lifted the holders into second place.

UNLUCKY SOUTH KOREA LEFT REELING AFTER DEFEAT BY MEXICO

South Korea bowed out from the 2018 FIFA World Cup after losing for the second time in their Group F fixtures. This time it was against Mexico who caused an upset by defeating holders, Germany during their opening match.

Photo courtesy of www.fifa.com

It was quite unlucky for the Koreans when they went behind to a penalty in the 26th minute after Serbian referee, Milorad Mazic pointed to the spot when the ball hit Jang Hyun Soo’s hand while trying to block a cross by Andrés Guardado.

Former Arsenal forward, Carlos Vela converted the penalty to give El-Tri the lead and made the match more open as the Asian side tried to find the equaliser. However the Taeguk Warriors could not find an opening to beat Guillermo Ochoa between the Mexican posts. 

They fell further behind in the 66th minute in a rather unfortunate fashion. The Koreans were in a dominating spell with successive attempts launched at Mexico.

The match officials should have spotted a foul when Guardado clipped a Korean player feet in his attempt to win the ball which subsequently found it’s way to Javier Hernández who beat goalkeeper, Kim Seung-Gyu with a low shot.

After pushing hard all match, finally South Korea managed to get a goal when Song Heung-Min’s shot from outside the box rendered Ochoa helpless but it came too little too late to keep them in the tournament.

BRACES FOR LUKAKU & HAZARD AS BELGIUM STROLL PAST TUNISIA

It was a stroll in the park for Belgium as they scored five past Tunisia during their 2018 FIFA World Cup match played at the Otkritie Arena in Moscow.

Photo courtesy of www.fifa.com

Belgium opened the scoring in the sixth minute when their captain, Eden Hazard slotted home a penalty after he was brought down inside the box by Tunisia defender, Syam Ben Youssef.

The Red Devils went two goals ahead after sixteen minutes when Romelo Lukaku made a composed finish after receiving a pass from Dries Mertens.

However Tunisian hopes were raised two minutes later when Dylan Bronn headed the ball past Thibaut Courtois from a free-kick by Wahbi Khazri.

Lukaku then made it 3-1 in the third minute of the stoppage time at the end of the first half when he dinked the ball over Tunisia goalkeeper, Farouk Ben Mustapha after a good run by Thomas Meunier on the right.

It was 4-1 six minutes into the second half when Kevin De Bruyne released Hazard in the middle and the Chelsea man remained composed to slot the ball past Farouk.

It got worse for Tunisia in the 90th minute when Michy Batsuayi latched onto a pass from the right and slotted it past Farouk who had denied the Borussia Dortmund player from scoring on two occasions earlier.

Khazri restored some pride for Tunisia when he slotted the ball past Courtois deep into stoppage time from a cutback but by then Belgium already confirmed as the winner of the match and a place in the knockout round.