Organising body | FAM |
---|---|
Founded | 1957 |
Region | International |
Number of teams | Varied (3 in 2023) |
Current champions | Tajikistan (1st title) |
Most successful team(s) | Malaysia (10 titles) |
2023 Merdeka Tournament |
Merdeka Tournament is an international friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. It is mainly played at Independence Stadium, Kuala Lumpur. [1] The competition bears the Malay word for independence. The Merdeka Tournament was once regarded as the 'Grand Old Lady of Asia' where top teams from football playing nations would love to be invited. [2] As of 2023, the tournament has been held 42 times, and with decreasing frequency in recent decades. The Merdeka Tournament is the oldest invitational football tournament in Asia and the matches in the tournament are considered International "A" matches(Friendly match) by FIFA. [3]
The Merdeka Tournament is Asia`s oldest football tournament which invited football playing nations to compete since 1957. [6] [7] [8] [9] The tournament also was once called the ‘Mini Asia Cup’ around the 1960s to 1980s, which was founded by the former AFC President, Tunku Abdul Rahman. [10] [11] At that time, the FIFA president, Sir Stanley Rous, was just as surprised that newly independent Asian country could successfully organize a football tournament where all expenses of the visiting teams were fully borne by the host. [12] The Merdeka Tournament proved to be a huge success, inspiring similar tournaments like the Jakarta Anniversary Tournament in Indonesia, the King's Cup in Thailand and the President's Cup in South Korea. [13] While the tournament had been held annually from 1957 to 1988, it has been held only ten times from 1989 to 2023. During the late 1950s to early 1980s, it was a prestigious tournament among Asian nations because the participants sent their full senior players. [14] After the 1980s, interest in the cup waned from both football fans and football teams, because many Asian nations focused more on the qualification phases in FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup. [15]
The first edition of the tournament was held in August and September 1957 with Hong Kong emerging inaugural champions. [16] However, from then on it was purely dominated by Malaysia, South Korea, Myanmar, Indonesia and a host of other countries, including South American and European clubs. [17]
Malaysia/Malaya exclusively lifted the trophy ten times, emerged runners-up on eight occasions, and in addition shared the winner’s rostrum twice with South Korea (1960 and 1979), while South Korean sides have won it seven times.
Indonesia, Taiwan and Myanmar hold multi-winning accolades. The other champions were Morocco (1980), New Zealand (2000), Uzbekistan (2001), Czechoslovakia Olympic (1987) and Austria’s with their SK Admira Wacker (1991), German Hamburger SV (1988), Argentinian Buenos Aires XI (1983) and Brazilian Santa Catarina XI (1982).
Brazilian states' Sao Paulo XI, Minas Gerais XI, and America FC Rio de Janeiro finished runners-up, as have Japan and India.
Below are the list of Merdeka Football Tournament finals since 1957. [18] [19]
Below are the records of national teams (including youth teams) since 1957.
# | Team | Titles | Runners-up | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Malaysia [lower-alpha 4] | 12 [lower-alpha 5] | 8 | 20 |
2 | South Korea [lower-alpha 6] | 11 [lower-alpha 7] | 3 | 14 |
3 | Myanmar [lower-alpha 8] | 4 [lower-alpha 9] | 5 | 9 |
4 | Indonesia | 3 | 3 | 6 |
5 | Iraq | 2 | 2 | 4 |
6 | Taiwan [lower-alpha 1] | 2 [lower-alpha 9] | 0 | 2 |
Vietnam [lower-alpha 10] | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
8 | Hong Kong League XI [lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Czechoslovakia [lower-alpha 11] | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
10 | Morocco | 1 | 0 | 1 |
New Zealand | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Uzbekistan | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Tajikistan | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
14 | India | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Japan | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
16 | Pakistan | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Kuwait | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Ghana | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Algeria XI | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
China Olympic Team | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Below are the records of state or clubteams since 1957.
# | Team | Titles | Runners-up | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Santa Catarina XI | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Buenos Aires XI | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Hamburger SV | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
SK Admira Wacker | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
5 | Sao Paulo XI | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Minas Gerais XI | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
America FC Rio de Janeiro | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
FC Tirol Innsbruck | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Budapesti Vasas SC | 0 | 1 | 1 |
# | Player | Team | Matches | Goals | Ratio | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mokhtar Dahari | Malaysia | 50 | 36 | 0.72 | [20] |
2 | Kunishige Kamamoto | Japan | 18 | 22 | 1.22 | [21] |
3 | Abdul Kadir | Indonesia | 36 | 22 | 0.61 | [22] |
4 | Cha Bum-kun | South Korea | 34 | 21 | 0.62 | [23] |
5 | Abdul Ghani Minhat | Malaysia | 32 | 19 | 0.60 | [24] |
Year | Player | Team | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Václav Daněk | Czechoslovakia Olympic | 6 |
1988 | Peter Pacult | FC Tirol Innsbruck | 5 |
1991 | Ernst Ogris | SK Admira Wacker | 4 |
1993 | Petar Aleksandrov | FC Aarau | 4 |
1995 | Lee Woo-young | South Korea U-23 | 3 |
2000 | Chris Killen | New Zealand | 3 |
2001 | Bakhtiyor Hamidullaev Husain Ali | Uzbekistan Bahrain | 3 |
2006 | Indra Putra Mahayuddin | Malaysia | 3 |
2007 | Safee Sali | Malaysia U-23 | 3 |
2008 | Safee Sali (2) | Malaysia | 5 |
2013 | Rozaimi Rahman | Malaysia U-23 | 3 |
2023 | 8 players | India Malaysia Tajikistan | 1 |
Here are some prominent footballers, who participated in this competition.
The Malaysia national football team represents Malaysia in international football and is governed by the Football Association of Malaysia. The national team is recognised by FIFA as the successor of the defunct Malaya national football team which was founded for the 1963 Merdeka Tournament one month before the institution of Malaysia. The team is officially nicknamed Harimau Malaya in reference to the Malayan Tiger. Former player Mokhtar Dahari is one of the top goal scorers in international history.
The Football Association of Malaysia is the national governing body of football in Malaysia. The Football Association of Malaysia headquarters is located at Wisma FAM.
The Independence Stadium or Merdeka Stadium is a stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is known as the site of the formal declaration of independence of the Federation of Malaya on 31 August 1957. The stadium is also the site of the proclamation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.
Selangor Football Club, is a Malaysian professional football club based in the city of Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. The club is currently competes in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football. The club is nicknamed the Red Giants. Officially founded in 1936 by the Football Association of Selangor (FAS), the association built its football development as a result of a merger with the Selangor Association Football League and forming the professional football team known as Selangor. On 2 October 2020, the club officially made its privatization under a new entity as Selangor Football Club after it was officially approved by the Football Association of Malaysia on 29 September 2020. The club currently plays its home games at the Petaling Jaya Stadium after the club's original home ground, the Shah Alam Stadium, was closed to undergo major renovation and rebuilding work which was prolonged for an extended period of time.
Azizol Abu Haniffah was a midfielder with Perak FA and former Malaysia national team footballer. Azizol, a player with high skills equals previous midfield legends such as Shukor Salleh and Wong Choon Wah. He also well known for having involved in 1994 Malaysian football scandal and severely punished, thus ending his football career aged 29.
The Malaya national football team represented the Federation of Malaya during its existence from 1948 to 1963. The modern Malaysia national football team, active since the 1963 Merdeka Tournament, is considered its direct successor.
Tan Sri Datuk Abdul Ghani bin Minhat was a football player who represented the team Selangor FA and Negeri Sembilan FA in the 1950s until the late 1960s. He played as a striker and winger while representing Malaya and Malaysia. He was known as the Raja Bola and is considered one of Malaysia's greatest football players.
Muhammad Rozaimi bin Abdul Rahman is a retired Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a striker. He previously played for the defunct Sarawak, Sabah, Selangor, Kedah and Johor Darul Ta'zim II.
Jalil Che Din was a Malaysian football player and coach.
Mohamad Aidil Zafuan bin Abd. Radzak also known as Aidil Zafuan, is a Malaysian retired professional footballer who last played primarily as a centre-back and is currently working as an assistant coach for Malaysia Super League club Johor Darul Ta'zim. In his time with Johor Darul Ta'zim, he has won 26 trophies in total and making 211 appearances for the club.
Joseph Choo Seng Quee, popularly known as Uncle Choo, was a Singaporean footballer and football coach. He was coach of the Indonesia, Malaya/Malaysia and Singapore national teams. He is widely recognised as one of Singapore's best football coaches.
Dato' Abdul Shukor bin SallehDSPN AMN was a key midfield player for the Malaysia national football team during the 1970s. He was often called the "Mr.Cool" and "Malaysia Ardiles" of the Malaysian national team for the way he steered the Malaysian midfield with calm and composed way. He won the Malaysian National Sportsman Award in 1977 for his contribution to the national team. Furthermore, he was the second and the last football player after Mokhtar Dahari to be given that award. He was inducted into the FIFA Century Club in May 2021.
Hadi Ahmed Basheer is an Iraqi football coach and former player. He played as a midfielder and spent the majority of his career with Al-Minaa club.
Results of India national football team from 1980 to 1989.
Jamal Nasir is a former Malaysian footballer who plays for Pahang and Malaysia national team as a right back in the 1970s and in the 1980s. He also a football critic.
Ahmad Yusof is a Malaysian footballer who played for Penang and Pahang as a midfielder. He also a football manager.
Syed Ahmad Syed Abu Bakar was a Malaysian footballer who played as a striker.
Harun Jusoh is a former Terengganu FA and Malaysia midfield player.
The Malaysia national football team has represented Malaysia in international football since 1963. The team is governed by the Football Association of Malaysia. The national team is recognised by FIFA and RSSSF as the successor of the defunct Malaya national football team which have been absorbed along with its records by the current national team. The official FIFA code for the team is "Malaysia (MAS)".
Robert Choe is a former Malacca FA and Malaysia player in the 1950s–1960s.
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