NOV 9 — Following the setback that our national team suffered against Singapore in the World Cup 2014 qualifiers in July, I was asked this question — how crucial is the defence of the SEA Games gold medal in football to Malaysia’s long-term goal of returning to the top tier of Asian football?

Before I give a response to the above, let me update everyone on what has transpired in the SEA Games so far. The football competition started last Thursday with Vietnam defeating the Philippines 3-1 in the opening match.

The surprise package so far has been the East Timorese. They have beaten both Brunei and the Philippines by the same 2-1 scoreline to be in the running for the runners-up spot in Group B, behind expected group winners Vietnam.

The other contender in that group is Myanmar, who have beaten Laos and drawn with Vietnam so far.

On Monday, Malaysia opened their account in the competition, in the first Group A encounter, with a scoreless draw against Singapore.

It was a mind-numbing match for the most part, though Malaysian captain Baddrol Bakhtiar did provide some excitement thanks to his dangerous freekicks.

Malaysia next face Thailand, at 5pm (Malaysian time) today.

Back to the question at hand, here is how I see it. 

As recently as two years ago, most Malaysians had given up on their national footballers achieving anything at the regional level, let alone across the continent.

Winning fosters hope, however, and winning twice simply raises that hope to greater heights. At the same time, it also creates wishful thinking among some of the older fans for a return to the glory days of Malaysian football.

And that’s what happened when K. Rajagobal’s U-23 squad triumphed over all in the last SEA Games held in Laos back in December 2009. Then, with many of the same young men plus some fresh faces, he led the team again as Malaysia defeated Indonesia to win the AFF Suzuki Cup last December.

The Harimau Malaysia, as the team is nicknamed, was feted by the whole nation and the promise of a new era in Malaysian football was heralded by the media, football officials, the fraternity of ex-football players, Malaysians from all walks of life and even the government, of course. We even got a public holiday because of that AFF Suzuki Cup victory.

Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, Mohd Safee Sali, Safiq Rahim, S. Kunalan and goalie Khairul Fahmi were among the young national players who became household names in all the excitement that followed.

As a Malaysian, and more importantly, as someone who watched Malaysia at the peak of their football fortunes — from the1970s to the early 1980s — this was the closest to the return of the glory years I had felt in the past quarter of a century.

Stadiums were filled to the max and a national fervour united the people of all races and ages better than any government propaganda message could possibly achieve.

Everyone agreed that it was time for Malaysia to be feared once again in the game regionally, even if not across the whole continent, yet.

Fast forward 11 months and we are now well into the football competition of the 26th SEA Games in Palembang, Indonesia.

Under coach Ong Kim Swee, the team has the opportunity to make it three in a row in the Asean region.

Ong has started to groom the next generation of footballers after some players from the previous SEA Games squad moved up with coach Rajagobal to the senior squad.

There is a positive feeling about the camp as the U-23 squad, missing up to 10 regulars, still had a good run in the VFF Cup hosted by the Vietnam Football Federation in Hanoi last month.

Despite playing with some players who were even under-19, Malaysia lost only one game and that too, to a side from outside the region — 1-3 to Uzbekistan. We then drew 1-1 against the home nation and defeated Myanmar 2-1, to end in third position in the competition.

However, there are three words that hang over the fortunes of Malaysia in the SEA Games 2011 “group of death”.

Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore stand in their way while Cambodia completes Group A.

From the highs of the past 24 months, the general feeling now among many Malaysian football fans and even pundits is that this U-23 squad has nothing to prove as defending champions.

It is understood that the competition will prove to be tough for our young men, and getting past the group stage will be achievement enough. That is not to say it would be acceptable to lose.

There is just a realisation that we are in a new era in Malaysian football on the international stage. There is a sense of pride no matter what the result, as long as the team plays well and prove their worth.

Gone are the days of fearing the team will lose to Asian minnows like the Philippines or being unable to recognise, let alone name, a single player in the squad.

The wait of more than 25 years for the return of our football pride has taught us patience and even the setback of losing to neighbours Singapore in the Fifa World Cup Asian qualifying second round in July has not really dampened the hope of the nation.

Besides that, there is a tangible feeling of fresh young talents emerging, showcasing their best in the domestic league, and even taking their chances on the international scene, be it in Indonesia (Safee) or in Europe (Wan Zack Wan Haikal had a stint in the Slovakian First Division, but was not picked for the SEA Games due to injury).

It is indeed going to be a long journey but the passion that the events of the past two years has planted in the hearts of the youths — besides their exposure to great football from Europe week-in-week-out — has given this writer a sense of comfort that we are definitely on the right track.

It is only a matter of when, and not if, we will ever be back in the top tier of Asian football.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.