BHUBANESWAR: From the sidelines, Police inspector Nabil Fiqri looks jaded, and not his normal self in both of Malaysia’s World Cup matches against the Netherlands and Pakistan.
He made too many basic mistakes, couldn’t stop some simple passes and mis-trapped slow moving balls.
This put more pressure on the midfield, as well as made the Malaysian attack look blunt
Nabil is not noted to be a deadly scorer but he is known to make deft passes for others to nail the goals.
This year alone, he has played in the Azlan Shah Cup, Commonwealth Games, the Five-Test matches in Buenos Aires, Asian Games, Asian Champions Trophy, the three Tests against New Zealand and now the World Cup.
And he scored only one goal each in the Asian Games and NZ Tests.
When Nabil was asked yesterday if all these tournaments had made him lethargic: “Others may have a different opinion of my game but I believe I have been giving my best in all the tournaments that I competed inthis year.
"But I believe we can perform much better, as a team, in the final match against Germany.
“Our backs are against the wall right now and the only escape route is to either beat or hold the Germans to a draw.
“And so, the coach (Roelant Oltmans) has been motivating us during the long break, and we are ready for the last assault,” said Fiqri who has 230 caps.
And what about food, is it a bother in Bhubaneswar?
“The hotel food is decent and we have no complaints. To spice up things, we have also brought along our own sambal and other stuff.”
Hopefully, the police inspector shoots a goal or two against the Germans to spice up Malaysia's campaign, which has so far been bland, in the World Cup.