HARIMAU MALAYA MOVE UP 4 SPOTS IN THE LATEST FIFA RANKING

Malaysia have moved from 154th to 150th in the latest FIFA rankings, which ties them together with arch-rivals Singapore

Good news for Ong Kim Swee and the national team as Malaysia have moved up four places to 150 in the latest FIFA rankings.

Previously in the rankings Malaysa were ranked at 154, but this edition sees them tied with arch-rivals Singapore at 150, ahead of teams sucah as India (154), Laos (156) and Indonesia (158).

Amongst Asian countries, Malaysia also moved up one spot to be 26 out of 46 Asian countries, whilst they are also now sixth amongst Asean countries behind Phillipines (127), Myanmar (130), Vietnam (143). Thailand (147), and of course tied with Singapore at 150.

In Asia, Iran remains at the top of the pile ranked at 38th in the world, despite dropping four places from previous position. Japan is in second place amongst the Asian countries ranked at 50 followed by Australia (53), Uzbekistan (57) and United Arab Emirates (58). Korea Republic dropped eight places to 61 and is sixth amongst Asian countries.

In the overall rankings, European and World Champions Spain are still leading the pack with no change in top three as Germany and Argentina both remained at second and third spot respectively. Portugal, who beat Sweden in the play-offs to make to this year’s World Cup has moved up one spot to fourth place, while England has dropped two spots to 15th in the rankings.

Malaysia and Ong Kim Swee will face Philippines and Yemen in March and a win from those matches will surely boost the rankings of the country, especially if they made it to the 2015 Asian Cup competition.

Malaysia FA Cup Round Report: JDT and Kelantan seal home wins

Favourites JDT and Kelantan won by three goals each while Sarawak and Pahang will have to wait for the 2nd leg

Another exciting round of matches were played in the first leg of the FA Cup quarterfinals, with last season's finalists, Johor Darul Ta'zim and Kelantan won at home.

Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) who were awarded with an automatic win by FAM from their last round of the FA Cup, managed to win against Kedah by three goals to one in Larkin. JDT's goals were all assisted by Mahali Jasuli. Amri Yahyah got the first goal in the 15th minute before Hariss Harun added another one. Kedah fought back and managed to get an away goal from Billy Mehmet just before the break. Substitute, Luciano Figueroa completed Kedah's misery by scoring another goal in the extra time.

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Kelantan fought hard to win against one of the strongest football clubs from Selangor, PKNS FC in a five goal thriller. Kelantan's first goal was scored by captain Badri Radzi after he curled one from a free kick. PKNS managed to draw level from Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh after a messy clearance from Kelantan's defender. Just before the break, Tengku Hasbullah gave Kelantan another goal after Ghaddar's shot was kept out by Remezey. Substitute Shakir Ali scored the third goal in the 74th minute after a fantastic through pass by Badhri Radzi. PKNS secured two valuable away goals after Dong-Chan Kim scored in the final 8 minutes of the game.

Dollah Salleh's team, PDRM managed to contain the mighty Pahang by drawing 1-1. Chad Souza fired home from close range to strike first blood for the hosts in the 13th minute. But Pahang were
lucky to get an away goal in 80th minute after Matias Conti found the net.

Felda United managed to stop Sarawak's three-game winning streak drawing 0-0 in Selayang. Gabor, who has been excellent for the Sarawak team did not play in the match but the team's defensive unit, led
by Ronny Harun were still solid as they managed to stop the home side's attacks.

The favourites, JDT & Kelantan look like will not have much difficulties to qualify for the next round but the underdogs are not to be taken lightly as they may surprise us all in the next 2nd leg which will be played on the 18th February.

TEAM OF THE 4th WEEK

Goal Malaysia runs through the best performers in the second round of Malaysian top-fight action

Terengganu's homegrown goalie Sharbinee Allawee played out of his skin to keep LionsXII's forwards at bay with some great saves last month.

For the second week running, we have opted for the same centre back pairing. Sarawak's defensive Gabor Gyepes was yet again the shining star in his team's victory whilst Terengganu's strong centreback Vincent Bikana was an excellent defensive outlet at the Jalan Besar stadium as he stopped a wounded LionsXII team from penetrating their goal. Hardworking utility man Tuah Iskandar meanwhile was an essential part of the Perak side that secured a massive win over Kelantan. Another of Sarawak's defensive talisman Ronny Harun completes our back four after an impressive masterclass against goal threats Ronaldinho Wleh and Karlo Primorac

.Lionel Messi's idol Pablo Aimar comfortably made his best performance since arriving on these shores. A superb finish for his goal but most encouraging wass his blossoming understanding with his teammates. Pahang's deep lying playmaker Azidan Sarudin displayed his vast array of passing ability against star-studded JDT and rose to the occasion at the death with the assist for the winning goal through a delightful free kick. Perak's young defensive midfielder Sukri Hamid scored an opportunistic goal against Kelantan but ultimately kept Malaysia's best midfielder Badhri Radzi under wraps. Making his debut in our lineup is Indonesian star Andik Vermansyah who came on in the second half but it was the substitution which sparked Selangor into life as he was his trademark buzzing self.

Perak's third and final entry this week is Khairul Asyraf who proved that local players (and young ones at that) can give foreign players a run for their money. On a night when Perak's import strikers were misfiring, Asyraf rose high, figuratively and literally, to head in the winning goal against the mighty Kelantan. Selangor's new fan favorite Paulo Rangel yet again led his team to a victory by scoring a brace after they went behind to an early goal by the home side.