The media all along suspected a hidden hand behind the strange and outrageous results in Malaysia Cup matches.Īdmittedly Malaysia and Singapore are inextricably linked in football. Instead of sweeping the shame under the carpet, FAM took a stern action in banning from the game 83 players, of whom 29 were national team material between the ages of 19 and 34.Ī whole generation of players was wiped out. I was seated at the media tribune, reporting for Berita Harian, while almost a busload of my relatives who crossed the Causeway by car was enjoying the momentous occasion of witnessing the Lions’ last Malaysia Cup win before the FA of Malaysia (FAM) insisted on organising the M-League in 1995 without Singapore’s participation.įA of Singapore’s withdrawal fuelled much speculation, with some critics hinting that the acrimonious parting stemmed from FAM’s war on match-fixing scandal that rocked Malaysian football throughout the entire 1994 season. Again in Shah Alam a week later, Abbas’ rich vein of form continued as he struck a hattrick against Pahang in an emphatic famous 4-0 victory for Singapore, ending a 14-year agonising wait for the prestigious Cup to cross the Causeway. He failed to catch a cross from Selangor’s left, the ball dropped onto Abbas Saad’s path and the Aussie international hammered home the equaliser that guaranteed Singapore, who clinched the league title four months earlier, a place in the Malaysia Cup final.īefore Hassan’s ill-timed run and error, Selangor were leading 2-1, with 11 minutes remaining. Speeding like a bullet from his goalmouth, his sortie ended in disaster. Selangor keeper Hassan Miskam dropped a clanger. The romance with Singapore is water under the Causewayĭec 10, 1994. This article, slightly edited, appeared in the January 2015 issue of Four Four Two.
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