With few days away from the important home match against Philippines, we the supporters of Maldives are very hopeful.

We are second from bottom, but we have already played the two big sides in the group. I still believe that we should have gotten something from the Syria game though it was away from home. For one thing everything changed when Maldives coach Petar Segrt introduced Ali Ashfaq(Dhagandey) in the second half. Now that the rift between Segrt and Dhagandey are over, the supporters, I for one am hopeful that Segrt will make better use of the Maldivian legend. With the top division in peril, the Maldivian footballers cannot be careless of these two games. Poor performances against China, Syria and the whole Indian Ocean Island games have dented the support for the national team. I am sure our boys will reinvent themselves in the next two games. On the 14th when we play against Philippines at home league leaders Syria will face China at home giving us a good chance to reduce the difference as we are up against Guam at home few days after Philippines.

Why do I believe that we should have done better against Syria? For one thing we kept our biggest asset for the second half. Of Course with the introduction of Dhagandey, Syria didn't push forward as much. Dhagandey was responsible for the Syrian defender getting sent off and of course the Maldivian talisman got himself on the score sheet. My question about that game is, with fifteen minutes remaining, with the opponent playing with ten men, a must win match, a win or a draw could have given us an excellent chance to finish second in the group, I was puzzled when Segrt gave a debut to a totally new player. I respect all the players who wear the national jersey so I do not want to mention his name. Did he have enough league games this season to warrant a chance in this crucial time of the match? Of course someone with better technical knowledge than me needs to answer this question. The biggest question I have in mind is, has the Association scouting team made proper study of the opponents? Because Segrt must have scared the **** out of the players when he said that even a draw was a good result even before the game. Why this defeatist mentality. Looks as though either he is afraid to win or that he is deliberately giving himself an excuse.

All negativity aside, Segrt must be given credit for giving Dhagandey the chance finally after a year in exile. Imagine where Maldives would be if Dhagandey had played in the Indian Ocean Island games, or if he was allowed to train with them the whole time and used more in the game against China. For one thing the World Cup winning coach, Marcelo Lippi mentioned Dhagandey by name. And he was a threat believe it or not. He was the only guy who wasn't whisked away by the 'tough' Chinese players. So lets see how much of game time the captain gets this time out.

With Dhagandey back in the picture, we also hope that players like Mohamed Umair and others who are doing very well in the league will get a chance to shine again. 

Another lesson we have learnt is that failure to win any of these games will further create mistrust between whats left of the supporters of the national team and the Association. Losing badly in the Indian Ocean Island games has raised a lot of questions among the people of Maldives. So here we are, the supporters hoping that in these two games, Maldives National team will redeem themselves.

With home game against China, Syria will find it hard to beat the giants. China dropped points against Philippines, so a win for Maldives will give us an excellent chance what happens in the Syria-China game. These rants of mine cannot be complete without giving the example of the Under-18 National team that won the Bronze medal in the SAFF Under-18 Championships. They believed it was achievable and they did it. They aimed for gold for the first time, and ended up getting bronze. My point is that maybe if we aim for the world cup, we might well qualify for the Asian Games. That in itself is a tremendous feat. This is a year of creating history. So go my Maldivian Heroes, Make History Please.

Remember Philippines drew China at home. Us? we drew South Korea at home when they were the fourth best team in the World Cup. We can, we just need to believe we can.

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