PROJEK BARCELONA ’92 – Barcelona Babes
Pada Sukan Olimpik Barcelona 1992, Jawatankuasa Olimpik Antarabangsa (IOC) telah menetapkan had umur untuk pasukan bola sepak lelaki kepada umur 23 tahun dan ke bawah (B-23) buat pertama kali. Keputusan tersebut masih berkuatkuasa hingga ke hari ini.
Sehubungan dengan itu, Malaysia memulakan misi baharu untuk mempertajamkan pemain-pemain B-23 dengan Projek Barcelona ‘92, sebuah skuad yang lebih dikenali dengan nama jolokan “Barcelona Babes”.
Skuad B-23 tersebut berada di bawah bimbingan legenda Chow Kwai Lam, yang pernah mewakili Malaysia dari 1965 hingga 1971. Sebagai jurulatih, beliau telah membawa Kuala Lumpur untuk memenangi Piala Malaysia tiga tahun berturut-turut dari 1987-89.
Sebagai persediaan, skuad Barcelona Babes beraksi di pelbagai kejohanan dan perlawanan persahabatan untuk mendedahkan mereka di kalangan pesaing antarabangsa. Menurut Kwai Lam, ini telah membantu menunjukkan peningkatan dalam prestasi mereka.
Pada tahun 1990, skuad tersebut diberi peluang melawat Poland dan Czechoslovakia, di mana mereka menentang kelab-kelab terpilih serta skuad Olimpik negara masing-masing. Kemudian, mereka dapat menentang pasukan Olimpik Hong Kong dan Jepun. Anak-anak muda Malaysia berjaya mengalahkan Hong Kong 1-0 dan Jepun 2-1.
Pestabola Merdeka 1991, yang berlangsung pada bulan Februari, merupakan kejohanan terbesar bagi mereka sebelum ke Kelayakan Asia Sukan Olimpik pada bulan Mei. Pasukan B-23 Malaysia diundi ke dalam Kumpulan B, di mana mereka seri dengan Denmark B-23 (1-1; Mubin Mokhtar) dan tewas kepada kelab Czechoslovakia, SK Slovan Bratislava (0-2), sebelum berjaya mengalahkan Thailand B-23 (2-1) melalui jaringan daripada Yap Wai Loon dan Azman Adnan.
Projek Barcelona ‘92 sudah tentunya satu pelaburan besar bagi Persatuan Bola Sepak (FAM) pada masa itu. Nantikan posting kami yang seterusnya untuk kisah pasukan Barcelona Babes di Kelayakan Asia Sukan Olimpik 1992.
Skuad penuh Projek Barcelona ‘92:
Barisan Belakang (dari kiri): Chong Kim Boon, Mubin Mokthar, Ong Kim Swee, Chong Kok Min, Mohd Fairuz, Ghazali Ismail, V. Thinaggaran, Edres Selamat, Othman Katimon
Barisan tengah: Chong King Kong, Mohd Azli Mahmood, Cher Wan Hoo, Louis Jakai, Azmi Mohammad, Nik Kamarulzaman, Wong Kok Sum, Ahmad Fauzi Ibrahim
Barisan depan: Yap Wai Loon, Saziman Ismail, Adnan Ibrahim, Chow Kwai Lam (ketua jurulatih), Mustakim Omar (penolong jurulatih), Salahuddin Che Ros, Lee Thean Ewe, Azman Adnan, Mentali Aldin
//
For the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) introduced an age limit for participants in the men’s football competition to be under the age of 23 (U23). The ruling still remains in effect today.
As such, Malaysia began their mission to strengthen their U-23 players with the ‘1992 Barcelona Project’, a squad of players more colloquially known as “Barcelona Babes”.
The squad was under the guidance of the legendary Chow Kwai Lam, who had represented Malaysia from 1965 to 1971. As coach, he led Kuala Lumpur to win the Malaysia Cup three times in a row from 1987-89.
As preparation, Barcelona Babes played various tournaments and friendlies to gain exposure among their international competitors and, according to coach Kwai Lam, this helped in showing improvement in their performance.
In 1990, the newly formed squad toured Poland and Czechoslovakia, where they played against selected clubs and the countries’ respective Olympic squads. Later in the year, they went up against Hong Kong and Japan’s Olympic teams. The youngsters managed to defeat Hong Kong 1–0 and Japan 2–1.
The 1991 Merdeka Tournament, which was held in February, was a major tournament for the U23 team before they headed for the Olympic Asian Qualifiers in May. They were placed in Group B where they drew with Denmark U23 (1-1; Mubin Mokthar) and lost to Czechoslovakian club SK Slovan Bratislava (0-2), before defeating Thailand U23 (2-1) through goals from Yap Wai Loon and Azman Adnan.
The 1992 Barcelona Project was certainly a huge investment for the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). Stay tuned to see how they fared at the 1992 Olympic Games Asian Qualifiers.
Full squad:
Back row (from left): Chong Kim Boon, Mubin Mokthar, Ong Kim Swee, Chong Kok Min, Mohd Fairuz, Ghazali Ismail, V. Thinaggaran, Edres Selamat, Othman Katimon
Middle row: Chong King Kong, Mohd Azli Mahmood, Cher Wan Hoo, Louis Jakai, Azmi Mohammad, Nik Kamarulzaman, Wong Kok Sum, Ahmad Fauzi Ibrahim
Front row: Yap Wai Loon, Saziman Ismail, Adnan Ibrahim, Chow Kwai Lam (coach), Mustakim Omar (assistant coach), Salahuddin Che Ros, Lee Thean Ewe, Azman Adnan, Mentali Aldin
