KUALA LUMPUR: AFTER 43 years, the Malaysia football team returned to the Asian Cup on merit but ended up being a damp squib in Doha.
However, this was expected as World No. 130 Malaysia were the third lowest ranked team in the 24-nation competition.
Harimau Malaya's defeats to Jordan (4-0) and Bahrain (1-0) in their Group E opening two matches sealed their fate early in the Asian showpiece.
The question now is what is next for Malaysian football?
On paper, things appear rosy with the national team strengthened by naturalised players and the country's M-League clubs producing commendable performances at Asian level.
Also, the National Football Development Programme and the Mokhtar Dahari Academy have produced new talent for the country.
Football pundit Sadek Mustaffa feels that Malaysian football has made progress but has yet to taste success. And it's time for the powers-that-be to look at their shortcomings and come out with solutions.
"Let's assume that things are working well for Malaysian football in the last few years, and if this Asian Cup is a benchmark to gauge progress, I think it's a good sign," said the Universiti Teknologi Mara Sports Science and Recreation senior lecturer.
"The national team have qualified for the Asian Cup after a long time, and that should mean something. But we need to start thinking about the future. We need plans to move on to the next stage.
"I see that there are several areas that can be improved. Obviously, football clubs' professionalism can be improved to solve unpaid wages.
"As for the naturalised players, I think better scouting is needed and the quality of the candidates should be better."
Sadek said a key area that has been neglected is players' welfare at youth level, and this has caused talented players to slip through the net.
"We see only the players in top flight getting lucrative salaries. But players at youth level don't get paid well and this could be an issue because some gig jobs can be more rewarding financially.
"If we cannot keep young talented players in the football ecosystem, we will face issues with the talent pool in the future.
"We know that M-League clubs are run professionally, but they need to be better, especially financial management and revenue generation."