Best of ASEAN Cup

Forget these pointless spectacles that see high profile English clubs swan around south east Asia in their shell suits, shutting out the world with their i-Pods, what the region really needs is a BPL Asian trophy like event featuring teams from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

An expansion of last night’s Selangor Cup, between Selangor and Persib, which attracted 40,000 fans to the stadium as well as a spike in visitors to this here site as people sought to know more.

That 40,000 was, I believe, about what Liverpool attracted to Bangkok and a bit less than turned up in Singapore. For a couple of games backed by one of the biggest brand names in the world and a professional marketing campaign.

There ws none of that for the game in Shah Alam. Far from it. Yet the fact that 40,000 still turned up, perhaps in part to see Indonesians Bambang Pamungkas and Elie Aiboy, is testament to the untapped interest in the local game.

Persija used to host the Bang Yos Cup every pre season. Initially it started out as a kick around for local sides but over the years it expanded.

Indeed in the second year Singapore’s very own Geylang United reached the final in a game that John Wilkinson, now of course with SAF, will remember with mixed emotions. He scored Geylang’s only goal in their 5-1 defeat by PSMS. He also got booked and sent off. Welcome to Jakarta John!

Also present that year, 2004, was a Myanmar Select who managed to beat Persib 2-1 in one of their games.

2005 also saw a couple of representatives from the region join the likes of Persija and PSMS. Scott O’Donnel brought a young Cambodian team while Osotsapa from Thailand also joined the fray.

The Thais played Persija in the opening game and got thumped 5-1 but later on managed to beat the Cambodians 8-2 as well as eventual runner’s up Persik 3-0. Worawut Wongsawat scored six goals for the Thais but it was PSMS who triumphed.

The last Bang Yos Cup was held in 2006 and featured a couple of state teams from Australia.

Is the region ready for a four team tournament sponsored by someone like Air`Asia? Imagine the likes of Chonburi, Tampines Rover, Kedah and Sriwjaya locking horns on a regular basis!