Malaysia National Football Team
The Malaysian national football team (Malay: Pasukan bola sepak kebangsaan Malaysia) nicknamed Harimau Malaya, after the Malayan Tiger, is the national team of Malaysia and is controlled by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). Before 1963, the team represented the Federation of Malaya and was known as the Malaya national football team.
Most significant successes of the team has come in the regional AFF Suzuki Cup (formerly known as the 'Tiger Cup'), which Malaysia won in 2010 for the first time in history. They beat Indonesia 4–2 on aggregate in the final to capture the country's first major international football title.
Malaysia had many top players since the creation of the Federation of Malaya until the country became known as Malaysia, such as the legendary Mokhtar Dahari and Sabah FA's Hassan Sani and James Wong, which led Malaysia into their golden age during the 1970s until the 1980s. Before Mokhtar, The Malaysian King of Football, Datuk Abdul Ghani Minhat was the most famous and respected footballer in the whole Malaya during the 1950s until the 1960s. Malaysia's 15–1 victory over the Philippines in 1962 is currently the record for the highest win for the national team and the record has never been broken ever since. In the current generation, Mohd Safee Mohd Sali and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha are considered by Malaysians as their best striker pair.
In the FIFA World Rankings, Malaysia's highest standing was in the first release of the figures, in August 1993, at 75th. Malaysia's main rival on the international stage is their geographical neighbor, Indonesia and Singapore, and past matches between these two teams have produced much drama. Malaysia is one of the most successful teams in Southeast Asia along with Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Winning the ASEAN Football Championship 2010 and other small competitions and still improving today.
Read more about Malaysia National Football Team: History, Home Stadium, Recent Results, Coaching Staff, Coaches
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