John Lennon shot dead.
Soap opera Dallas' lead character J.R. Ewing is shot.
But Malaysian football reached the pinnacle on that fateful night of Apr 6, 1980, when Hassan Sani slalomed past two Korean defenders before delivering the pass for James Wong to nail home the winning goal that earned Malaysia one of three tickets from Asia to the Moscow Olympic Games.
Karl Weigang's boys beat the Koreans 3-0, drew 1-1 with Japan (bereft of Kunishige Kamamoto and Yasuhiko Okudera), defeated Brunei 3-1, demolished Indonesia 6-1 and the Philippines were whitewashed 8-0 as Soh Chin Aun and gang topped the group. The winner of the group, though, was determined through a playoff, so Chin Aun and Co had to negotiate a replay against second-placed South Korea, who had Huh Jung-moo among them.
The 3-0 win in the opening group tie, when James Wong, Khalid Ali and Abdullah Ali left their names on the scoresheet and substitute Cho Gwang-rae missing a penalty, needed to be consigned to history.
Malaysia's starting line-up read - R. Arumugam, Jamal Nasir Ismail, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, Kamaruddin Abdullah, Bakri Ibni, Shukor Salleh, Khalid Ali, Abdullah Ali, Hassan Sani, James Wong.
South Korea meanwhile paraded Kim Hwang-ho, Choi Jong-duk, Cho Young-jeung, Lee Jang-soo, Kim Hong-joo, Park Sang-in, Kim Gang-nam, Gwang-rae, Shin Hyun-ho, Chung Hae-won, Huh Jung-moo.
Without the speed and goalscoring instincts of Mokhtar Dahari (retired following a variety of factors), Weigang pinned his tactics on Hassan Sani's fleet foot, the defensive combo of Chin Aun-Santokh, Khalid Ali's versatility and James Wong's lanky presence upfront.
Much to the delight of the capacity crowd at Merdeka Stadium, Perlis' poster boy Bakri opened the scoring in the 12th minute. The Koreans however equalised through Gang-nam in the 58th minute.
With five minutes remaining, Khalid's headed clearance from a freekick found Hassan in the middle of the park. The rest is history.
The country's decision to boycott the Moscow Games denied the class of 1980 to demonstrate their class at the highest amateur level for football then.
In a recent interview, James revealed that it was a crushing blow.
"It was like the world crushing upon you. Each time I watch the Olympic Games especially the opening ceremonies, it brings back the painful memory of missing the Moscow Games."
10 comments:
give me goose bumps bro, reading that notes on that match against Korea ... yup thats the pinnacle of our football history ...
I am surprised, albeit pleasantly, to see one of our football heroes, James Wong's giant Maxis billboard on the Kl Seremban hiway (near the interchange to NEP & KL Putrajaya Hiway) ...
long live King James! long live our heroes from 1980!
Korea ketika itu terkenal dengan 'taktik korea'. Bebudak skrg mungkin tidak tahu apa itu 'taktik korea'.
Aku masih ingat semasa main di padang yang bergolkan batang buluh masa kecek2 dulu... bila pihak lawan jatuh terbaring tak bangun2, kita akan jerit..."taktik korea la tu...."
Mungkin Rizal tertinggal nama atau aku sendiri yang silap.... Apa sebab tadak nama pemain yg 'bertubuh sasa dan tegap'
yang nama nya ada iras-iras laki Zizie Ezette iaitu Cha Bung Keun?
Dear Rizal,
1980, i wasn't even born yet...
But when i watched the Soh Chin Aun ad, it made me realise how great we were...
We should not long for the past. Instead we should create our own history.
It would be sad if my children were to (still) view 1980 as the pinnacle of Malaysian football.
James Wong's finish was coolness personified.. kept his head, had an extra touch, and bang!!!!
lesser players would have blasted the ball after the first touch...
that was BRILLIANT!!!!
As for Hassan Sani, adjectives would not do that run justice....
Salam Sdr. Rizal,
Saudara telah membawa nostalgia 1980 tepat pada waktunya iaitu menjelang Piala Dunia.
Walaupun Malaysia tidak pernah layak ke pusingan akhir Piala Dunia, tetapi kita mesti bangga kerana kita layak pergi ke pusingan akhir Sukan Olimpik Munich dan Moscow (sepanjang ingatan saya)(walaupun Malaysia boikot Sukan Olimpik di Moscow.
Ketika itu peminat bolasepak Malaysia bila-bila masa jika diitanya siapa left back (Yahya Jusuh/Kamaruddin Abdullah), siapa right back, Jamal Nasir. Dan nama-nama seperti Abdullah Ali, Super Mokh Allahyarham Mokhtar Dahari, King Jame Wong, Hassan Sani, Shukur Salleh, Abdah Alif, Khalid Ali, Arumugam, Rashid Hassan, Bakri Ibni dan ramai lagi. Barisan reserve, kualitinya lebih kurang dengan yang 1st.eleven.
Tapi sekarang, saya tidak dapat menghafal mana-mana pemain kecuali Zakuan. Itu pun saya jadi keliru, kerana bakatnya ke atau kerana populariti isterinya Rudaini.
Potensi ada, tapi entah di mana silapnya bolasepak kita.
Yang pasti bola tak pernah silap, ia tetap bulat dari dulu hingga sekarang.
It's a sad measure of how pathetic we have become that we have to revisit the ghosts of the seventies and eighties to revive our moribund fortunes. Even sadder is that our young cant even name a national player but can rattle on about the achievements of Rooney and company. A sad reflection of the incompetence and mismanagement of our football powers-that-be.
Skuak 1980an ini bukan sahaja mampu menewaskan Korea dan Jepun, malah Arab Saudi, Kuwait dan China senang2 kita gigit, tak silap dengan jaringan 3-0.
Negara ASEAN jangan cerita lah...Burma pernah kena titik sampai 11-0. FAM waktu tu sombong bro, Singapore dan Thailand tak dijemput main dlm Pestabola Merdeka kerana tak stendet kononnya.
Masa mengubah segala-galanya. Dimana kedudukan skuad Malaysia sekarang jika nak bandingkan dengan pasukan tersebut?
It was the most cruel decision. Politics spoiled Malaysian chances in olympic football history..
That is why we don't want any politician involve in the football..see what happens to sport industry(can we call it an industry?)
bl ak tgk iklan maxis yg ada James Wong, Hassan Sani aku rase sgt sebak...menitis jgk la air mata sbb mengapa mentaliti pemain bolasepak sekarang xmampu utk menyamai mentaliti pemain bolasepak era itu..sedangkan mereka bukan professional...
aku cuma meluahkan ape yg aku rasa ketika menonton iklan tersebut...
Ola Bola.. 28 jan 2016.. cerita pasal skuad ni la kan?
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