Nabil Luqman

0f9d2dd4f71434084e2b6094de1865e23abb37bb9f28ca51feeabee679ec9be2

Social

Malaysia

Football

GOAT

Harimau Malaya

FIFA

Century Club

Soh Chin Ann

Glory

OlaBola

Every guy out there would know the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) right? Well, most of us would normally follow international football but did you ever wonder how good was Malaysian football back in the past?
Our country actually has a good history with football with some of the most recognizable players back in the day and earlier this month, FIFA had released a list of their Century Club which is an exclusive honour roll for players who represented their nation at least 100 times.
<img src="https://cdn1.myc.com.my/image/upload/v1629100512/unsigned/fl7arwxgdusakawcz4dw.jpg" alt="" width="500" /> Image via <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2531033-manchester-united-transfer-news-latest-sergio-ramos-cristiano-ronaldo-rumours">Bleacher Report</a>
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Some familiar faces were in the list such as Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and even Sergio Ramos of Spain who were ranked the top-10 most capped players.
But the No.1 position surprised all
<img src="https://cdn1.myc.com.my/image/upload/v1629095588/unsigned/ceaog36ovvplevupgjw4.webp" alt="" width="500" /> Image via <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3145012/recognising-malaysias-soh-chin-ann-worlds-most-capped-footballer">SCMP</a>
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Malaysia&rsquo;s very own Soh Chin Ann was recognised for his achievements after FIFA validating 195 of his 222 recorded international appearances. Soh had retired back in 1984 and it took FIFA almost 40 years to recognize this!
The honour was a long time coming for Soh, but FIFA had an indirect acknowledgement on football in the postcolonial time in Asia. Soh is a role model to many as he earned his first cap for the national team in November 1969 when he was only 19 years old!
<img src="https://media1.giphy.com/media/l4q8cJzGdR9J8w3hS/giphy.gif?cid=790b7611ca5cbf0f26da2e38a548767c04ac34435239aa55&amp;rid=giphy.gif&amp;ct=g" alt="Barack Obama Applause GIF by Obama" />
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For decades, Soh had been an icon in both Malaysia and Southeast Asia, and it was more of an unusual career path for him. As most know, Chinese Malaysians are a group which make up less than a quarter of the country&rsquo;s population. When you think of it now, even for a Chinese Malaysian to become a footballer at this time would be an unusual career path.
Although he was well known back in his time, he still had to endure different difficulties. One of which was how both Malaysia and Singapore press had misspelled his name to &ldquo;Soh Chin Aun&rdquo; instead as they referred &ldquo;Ann&rdquo; as too feminine for a male. Journalist didn&rsquo;t bother to change their mistake but that did not stop his spirits and performance.
At the time, society did not care about discrimination as it was non-existent back then and his teammates did not care of what race he was. It was a game of unity and sportsmen had put aside all conflicts of everyday life aside when playing together.
Gary Koh who is a football writer based in Singapore had said &ldquo;He inspired a string of ethnic Chinese to play football in the 1980s and 1990s, including Lim Teong Kim, [the first Malaysian footballer to play in Europe]. Nowadays the national team has become predominantly Malay, but the national head coach and technical director are Chinese, part of Lim&rsquo;s generation.&rdquo;
<img src="https://cdn1.myc.com.my/image/upload/v1629095608/unsigned/mblizsblv8rlyuymyshp.webp" alt="" width="500" height=" " /> Image via <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3145012/recognising-malaysias-soh-chin-ann-worlds-most-capped-footballer">SCMP</a>
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Back in 1971, Soh had left Melaka which he played for during his youth and had joined the Selangor team. It was one of the club filled with the countries best players and he had strengthened the bond between one another over a daily basis.
<img src="https://cdn1.myc.com.my/image/upload/v1629095618/unsigned/locu6jnpc843p7xixmme.jpg" alt="" width="500" height=" " /> Image via <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/426012445992822177/">Pinterest</a>
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He was paired with Santokh Singh who was also in the Century Club list with 100 caps and the pair became the backbone of the national team.
As FIFA continued to have interest in the European and South American football scene, Asian teams were limited in participation especially during the World Cup and that&rsquo;s where the Olympics came in.
The Olympics Games offered opportunities for Asian countries to compete against the worlds best. Odds of qualifying for the Olympics were better than the World Cup as well. Because of the Olympics, we see Asian teams regularly take part in the quadrennial 16-team tournament.
Malaysia&rsquo;s national football team had qualified for the 1972 and 1980 Olympics and Soh and his teammates became national heroes.
<img src="https://cdn1.myc.com.my/image/upload/v1629095631/unsigned/rrogmoiaxns3aqclsdcq.webp" alt="" width="500" height=" " /> Image via <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3145012/recognising-malaysias-soh-chin-ann-worlds-most-capped-footballer">SCMP</a>
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Malaysia had dismantled their opponents in the qualifying games with wins over Japan, South Korea, Republic of China and the Philippines with no goals conceded back in 1971. A year later, the team was defeated by West Germany and Morocco but had won 3-0 against USA.
<img src="https://cdn1.myc.com.my/image/upload/v1629095645/unsigned/kqrcj8vcb2321jdjsfhz.jpg" alt="" width="500" height=" " /> Image via <a href="https://maveriq.asia/portfolio/ola-bola/">Maverio</a>
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Malaysia had a good win streak rolling into the 1980 Moscow Olympics but had decided to join other countries in boycotting the games as a protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The journey of the team was forever remembered and also turned into a film called Ola Bola which Soh had a cameo.
The film serves as a reminder of how Malaysia football was one of the top in Southeast Asia and also reminded us that diversity was the key to Malaysia&rsquo;s success off and on the pitch.
Soh and his teammates will never be forgotten for all the Malaysian football fans out there and one day everyone hopes that the Harimau Malaya squad will return to their former glory days again.
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Credit to SCMP and Media for the resources. FOMO much? Follow our <a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.facebook.com/mycclub/">Facebook</a> and <a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.instagram.com/myc_news/?hl=en">Instagram</a> for more updates.

Soh joins in the list of Century Club players in the #1 spot over Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos.

71a30afa81727089f8167577bafb18e472ea69bcc04f8ae66e2ca90e3fb70722

FIFA Recognizes Soh Chin Ann As World’s Most Capped Footballer

FIFA Recognizes Soh Chin Ann As World’s Most Capped Footballer

Soh joins in the list of Century Club players in the #1 spot over Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos.

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