DOHA – If there is a will, even a “blind man’s wish” can come true.
That was exactly what happened to a vision-impaired Harimau Malaya die-hard fan Muhammad Ridzwan Erman Effendi, whose long-time wish to meet national head coach Kim Pan-gon and the Harimau Malaya squad came true when he was given an opportunity to meet them at their hotel, here yesterday.
It was indeed a twice-as-sweet moment to cherish for Ridzwan, 27, when he was able to meet his favourite players in the national squad, namely Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim and Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi, as well as Mohd Shahrul Mohd Saad.
The ardent Harimau Malaya fan was able to meet up with the players before the team headed for a training session.
Accompanying the fan from Batu Gajah, Perak, was his brother Raff Iskandar Erman Effendi, Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin and his deputy Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi.
“I never expected to be presented with an opportunity like this and I am lost for words. I just want to say that people always want to see Malaysia win but I just want to hear Malaysia win,” he said when met by reporters, here.
The tale of the two brothers went viral on social media this week, especially because one of them sacrificed his savings and time to bring the other on a flight to Qatar to enable the latter to support his favourite squad in the 2023 Asian Cup, here.
Raff Iskandar, 31, and Ridzwan arrived in Qatar on Monday to be in the stadium for all three matches played by Malaysia in Group E, namely against Jordan on Tuesday, Bahrain on Saturday and South Korea on January 25.
The duo are among thousands of Malaysian fans who are in Qatar for the Asian Cup, regarded as the premier football tournament in Asia.
Malaysia, having ended a 42-year wait to qualify for the Asian Cup on merit, hope to create history by qualifying for the round of 16 – since the Malaysian squad has lost their three previous outings in the competition in the group stages.
Malaysia who will meet Bahrain are both at the bottom of Group E after losing their opening matches respectively. – January 19, 2024