He said that striker, N Thanabalan, who scored the winner against Indonesia in the semi-final on Saturday, should remain level headed and always stay grounded in all that he does.
“Never be swollen headed. Just play football. I think he can do very well,” Thanabalan, 74, said in an interview with FMT.
Interestingly, the two Thanabalans share one more thing in common, that is, both their fathers share the same name, Nadarajah. The one obvious difference, however, is that the older Thanabalan wore number 10 when playing for the country, while his younger namesake wears number 12.
Thanabalan (10), who first represented the country as a 17-year-old at the Asian Youth tournament, said the most important advice he can give the current crop of young players, including Thanabalan (12) is to “never sell the game”.
“If you are caught, you’ll end up behind bars. Do you want that? Definitely not,” he said.
Thanabalan (10) also revealed how as a coach in the local football scene, he had no qualms about dropping players whom he suspected of being “shady”.
“Just play football, earn your salary and look after your family.”
Thanabalan (10) said he had been following the progress of his namesake since the latter began playing for Felcra FC. And he sees shades of himself in the 22-year old.
“He is a fox in the box. Always in the right place at the right time. I hope he scores tonight,” said the veteran.
He added that the current team had a very strong lineup when compared with the Thai side, especially with midfielders like Matthew Davies and Muhd Azam Abdul Azih.
“I think Malaysia will beat Thailand 2-0,” Thanabalan (10) predicted.
The history books record how Thanabalan (10) scored four goals when Selangor thrashed Penang 8-1 in the Malaysia Cup final of 1968, and also scored in the 3-0 victory over Burma (Myanmar) in the Merdeka Tournament the same year.
The question remains if Thanabalan (12) will etch his name in Malaysian football folklore like his legendary namesake by scoring in what could be a most memorable final for the nation tonight.