TO RISE IN FINAL
Thanabalan draws inspiration from his father for the biggest match of his life
REPORTS BY AJITPAL SINGH ajitpalsingh@nst.com.my
IT will be an emotional affair for national Under-22 forward N. Thanabalan in the final against defending champions Thailand tomorrow at Shah Alam Stadium. Thanabalan’s father S. Nadarajah, who is paralysed from the chest down following a road accident in 2013, will be at the stadium for the first time in the Sea Games to support his son and the national team.
For the 22-year-old, his father has been the source of motivation and inspiration since he started kicking the ball around when he was a toddler.
“My parents and other family members are coming to watch me play in the final. I am truly honoured. My father told me before the Sea Games that he will only come and watch if Malaysia enter the final. He is honouring his promise and will be at the stadium in a wheelchair on Tuesday,” Thanabalan said yesterday.
“Since his accident, he has watched me play in some of Felcra’s FAM Cup matches, but never in international matches. He is eager and excited about it.”
Described as the “Wayne Rooney” of Ong Kim Swee’s side, Thanabalan, who dedicates every goal that he scores to his father, is now the joint top scorer in the Sea Games with four goals. Myanmar’s Aung Thu and Vietnam Nguyen Cong Phuong have also scored the same number of goals.
Thanabalan is also the first national youth player to score that many goals in the Sea Games since Ahmad Fakri Saarani, who achieved it at the 2009 Laos edition.
Although the Seremban-born is now regarded Thailand.
Malaysia have been growing in strength since their first game against Brunei, and Kim Swee has urged his boys not to be afraid of Thailand.
For the record, Malaysia have met Thailand in four Sea Games finals, with the former winning only once when Kuala Lumpur hosted the biennial games in 1977. Malaysia were edged 1-0 in the 2001 KL edition.
Thailand will start as favourites tomorrow having beaten Kim Swee’s side 3-0 in the AFC Under-23 qualifiers last month.
But Kim Swee said past results do not matter and is confident it will be different as a star in the team, the softspoken player does not want success to get to his head.
“Yes, I am the top scorer and maybe I will even win the Golden Boot award, but the fact is I am not aiming for individual honours. My only focus is to help the team win the gold medal in front of our fans.
“There is nothing magical about me. I am always in the right place at the right time, but that is the job of a striker. My teammates are the ones that should be praised. They do the hard work to provide me with opportunities to score goals,” he said.
Thanabalan and his teammates are eager to silent Thailand and end their dominance in the Sea Games.
“I think they do not rate us highly. Thai striker Sittichok Kannoo told the press recently that Indonesia were better than Malaysia. The statement has made our team angry. We want to prove a point and beat Thailand.
“They think we are no match for them this time.
On Saturday, Malaysia showed their defensive stoutness in the 1-0 semi-final win over Indonesia.
Kim Swee said motivation is high, but his players cannot be overconfident going into the final.
“The team have grown in strength and defensively we have improved. I am happy that every player has so far shown good intensity and momentum whenever I played them.
“Thailand are a good team, and we have to be very focused in the final. They have not been conceding many goals here and so, we need to make full use of our opportunities,” Kim Swee added.