Norshahrul Idlan

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Talaha is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Norshahrul Idlan.

Norshahrul Idlan bin Talaha (born 8 June 1986) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a forward and Malaysian football pundit. From 2007 to 2022, he represented the Malaysia national team. He popularly known as Mat Yo by Malaysian football fans.

Norshahrul Idlan

Personal information
Full name	Norshahrul Idlan bin Talaha
Date of birth	(1986-06-08) 8 June 1986 (age 39)
Place of birth	Besut, Malaysia,
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Kelantan Red Warrior
Youth career
1998–2002	Perak
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2006	Perak
2006–2007	Negeri Sembilan
2007–2009	UPB-MyTeam		(14)
2010–2012	Kelantan	69	(36)
2013–2014	Johor Darul Ta'zim	39	(8)
2015	ATM	5	(1)
2015–2016	Terengganu	30	(2)
2017	Felda United	19	(4)
2018–2019	Pahang	36	(5)
2020–2021	BG Pathum United	6	(0)
2022	Sarawak United	16	(4)
2023	Melaka United	12	(0)
2024	Harini FT	22	(7)
2025–	Kelantan Red Warrior
International career‡
2003–2004	Malaysia U-21	10	(2)
2006–2007	Malaysia U-23	14	(5)
2007–2021	Malaysia	81[1]	(14)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Malaysia AFF Championship Winner 2010 Runner-up 2014 Runner-up 2018 Southeast Asian Games 2009 Merdeka Tournament Winner 2007
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21 October 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 19 November 2019

Career

Perak

Norshahrul was born in Besut, Terengganu. Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Jertih, Terengganu and start playing football for his state Terengganu since 1998. After that, he attended a secondary's school Sekolah Sukan Bukit Jalil; form 1 to form 5. Then, he promoted to play for Perak in 2004.

UPB-MyTeam

He later signed by the newly created club, UPB-MyTeam FC. He was one of the team's key players and score 16 goals in all competition for the club.

Kelantan

Norshahrul join Kelantan in late 2009. He was part of their 2010 Malaysia Cup-winning team. Norshahrul won two awards at the 2010 Anugerah Bola Sepak Kebangsaan 100Plus-FAM as the Best Forward and Most Valuable Player.^[2] He won three times in a row 2010,2011 and 2012 for Anugerah Bolasepak Kebangsaan 100Plus-FAM and Piala Supermokh Best Forward.

Johor Darul Ta'zim

After spending three years in Kota Bharu, Norshahrul left the Kelantanese outfit to join Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) for an undisclosed fee. Top scorer local player on that time.

Armed Forces

Norshahrul joined ATM FA for the 2015 season, after leaving Johor Darul Takzim FC at the conclusion of his contract at the end of 2014. He was reunited with his former coach back when he was in Kelantan, B. Sathianathan.^[3]

Terengganu

After only 3 months with ATM FA, ATM FA problem salary. He signed with Terengganu for the remaining of 2015 Malaysia Super League season.^[4]

Felda United

Norshahrul signed with Felda United after spending two years with Terengganu.

Pahang

After a disappointing deal with Felda United, he went on to sign with Malaysian Super League runners up Pahang.^[5] He won Piala Fa Cup 2018.

BG Pathum United

After released by Pahang, he signed a one-year contract with BG Pathum United for 2020 Thai League 1 season.^[6] With BG Pathum, he created history by becoming the first Malaysian professional footballer to won a first division league title in Thailand.^[7]

Melaka United

In 2022 Norshahrul joined Melaka United on a 1-year deal.^[8] Melaka United also fail to settle salary for 6 months.

Harini FT

In 2023 at the age of 37, Norshahrul made a sensational move to second tier side Malaysia M3 League Harini FT as one of the ex Malaysia national team players to join a semi-pro league.^[9] In a 2023 Malaysia Cup Round of 16 fixtures against Sri Pahang on 4 August 2023, Norshahrul scored the equaliser that level the game at 2–2 but unfortunately felt to a last minute goal where it would ended up in a 3–2 defeat. First local player won cup Champions E-games.

Kelantan Red Warrior

On 1st July 2025, Matyo signed with Kelantan Red Warrior F.C. for one season to strengthen the team ahead of the 2025/2026 Malaysia A1 Semi-Pro League campaign.

International career

Norshahrul has played for the Malaysia national youth team for 2004 AFC Youth Championship. He win Best Player and Top Scorer Nike Cup in Thailand. Against Nepal during the tournament as Malaysia made it to the quarter finals. He is also one of the Malaysia under 23 players that won the 2007 Merdeka Tournament. He made his full international debut against Bahrain on 28 October 2007 after coming in for Sumardi Hajalan.^{[citation needed]}

On 12 July 2009, Norshahrul scored his first senior international goals in an unofficial match against Uganda. He later score his first full international goal against Lesotho on 11 September 2009.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2010, Norshahrul was called up to the Malaysia national squad by coach K. Rajagopal for the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup. Norshahrul scored 2 goals for Malaysia that time, one was a 5–1 loss against Indonesia and a 5–1 victory against Laos. Malaysia won the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup title for the first time in their history.^{[citation needed]}

On 9 December 2012, he scored a goal for Malaysia against Thailand in 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup, as Malaysia failed to retain the title having lost to Thailand on aggregate in the semi-finals.^{[citation needed]}

Norshahrul was again included by new coach Dollah Salleh for the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup squad, and played in all of Malaysia games as Malaysia advanced into the finals, only to be denied of the title by Thailand.^[10] Norshahrul scored one goal in the tournament, against Vietnam in the semi-final second leg.^[11]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 6 October 2023^[12]

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Others		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2003	Perak	Malaysia Premier League 1		0		0		0	–			0
2004		Malaysia Super League		0		0		0	–			0
2005				0		0		0	–			0
2005–06				0		0		0	–			0
Total				0		0		0	–			0
2006–07	Negeri Sembilan	Malaysia Super League		0		0		0	6	0
Total				0		0		0	6	0		0
2007–08	UPB-MyTeam	Malaysia Super League		4		0		0	–			4
2009				10		0		2	–			12
Total				14		0		2	–			16
2010	Kelantan	Malaysia Super League	23	11	2	0	9	3	–		34	14
2011			25	19	7	2	8	4	–		40	25
2012			21	6	3	1	11	3	3	0	38	10
Total			69	36	12	3	28	10	3	0	112	49
2013	Johor Darul Takzim FC	Malaysia Super League	21	7	7	0	8	4	–		36	11
2014			18	1	4	1	8	0	–		30	2
Total			39	8	11	1	16	4	–		66	13
2015	ATM	Malaysia Super League	5	1	1	0	–		–		6	1
Total			5	1	1	0	–		–		6	1
2015	Terengganu	Malaysia Super League	13	1	3	1	3	0	–		19	2
2016			17	1	1	0	5	1	–		23	2
Total			30	2	4	1	8	1	–		42	4
2017	Felda United	Malaysia Super League	19	4	1	0	8	0	5	1	33	5
Total			19	4	1	0	8	0	5	1	33	5
2018	Pahang	Malaysia Super League	15	2	6	2	8	2	–		29	6
2019			11	3	2	0	6	0	–		19	3
Total			26	5	8	2	14	2	–		48	9
2020	BG Pathum United	Thai League 1	6	0	0	0	0	0	–		6	0
Total			6	0	0	0	0	0	–		6	0
2021	Sarawak United	Malaysia Premier League	16	4	–		1	0	–		17	4
Total			16	4	–		1	0	–		17	4
2022	Melaka United	Malaysia Super League	12	0	3	2			–		15	2
Total			12	0	3	2	–		–		15	2
2023	Harini FT	Malaysia M3 League	22	7	–		2	1	2	0	26	8
Total			22	7	–		2	1	2	0	26	8

International

As of 28 May 2021^[1][13]

Malaysia national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2007	1	0
2009	7	5
2010	9	8
2011	4	0
2012	13	3
2013	6	3
2014	11	2
2015	1	0
2016	5	0
2017	0	0
2018	11	7
2019	12	4
2022	2	0
Total	82	31

International goals

Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first.^[13]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
	12 July 2009	Kuala Lumpur Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Zimbabwe1	4–0	4–0	Friendly
1.	11 September 2009	Petaling Jaya Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia	Lesotho	2–0	5–0	Friendly
2.	1 December 2010	Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia	Indonesia	1–0	1–5	2010 AFF Championship
3.	7 December 2010	Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium, Palembang, Indonesia	Laos	4–1	5–1
4.	9 December 2012	Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Thailand	1–0	1–1	2012 AFF Championship
5.	15 October 2013	Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia	Bahrain	1–1	1–1	2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
6.	11 December 2014	Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam	Vietnam	2–0	4–2	2014 AFF Championship
7.	12 October 2018	Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	1–1	4–1	Friendly
8.	8 November 2018	Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Cambodia	1–0	1–0	2018 AFF Championship
9.	12 November 2018	Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Laos	2–1	3–1
10.				3–1
11.	24 November 2018		Myanmar	1–0	3–0
12.	5 December 2018	Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Thailand	2–2	2–2
13.	7 June 2019	Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Timor-Leste	3–0	7–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
14.	5 October 2019		Sri Lanka	3–0	6–0	Friendly

¹ FIFA revoked the ‘A’ international classification for the matches once it was discovered that a Zimbabwean club team, Monomotapa United impersonated as the Zimbabwe national team and were not approved by the Zimbabwe Football Association.^[14][15]

U-23 team

Appearances in major competitions

Competition	App.	Goals	Team Result
2008 AFC Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament	1	0	Second round
2007 SEA Games	3	0	Group stage
2009 SEA Games	6	3	Winners
2010 Asian Games	4	2	Round of 16

Honours

Club

Kelantan FA

• Malaysia Super League (2) : 2011, 2012
• Malaysia FA Cup : 2012
• Malaysia Cup (2): 2010, 2012
• Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup: Winners (1): 2011

Johor Darul Takzim

• 2014 Malaysia Super League : Winner
• 2014 Malaysia Cup : Runner Up
• 2013 Malaysia FA Cup : Runner Up

Pahang FA

• 2018 Malaysia FA Cup : Winner

BG Pathum United

• 2020–21 Thai League 1 : Winner

International

• 2007 Merdeka Tournament: Winner
• 2009 SEA Games: Gold
• 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup: Winner
• 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup: Runner Up
• 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup: Runner Up

Individual

• 2010 Anugerah Bola Sepak Kebangsaan 100Plus-FAM: the Best Forward and Most Valuable Player
• 2011 Anugerah Bola Sepak Kebangsaan 100Plus-FAM: the Best Forward and Most Valuable Player
• 2012 Anugerah Bola Sepak Kebangsaan 100Plus-FAM: the Best Forward and Most Valuable Player
• Goal.com monthly Asian Best XI (Subs): January 2012^[16]
• 2018 AFF Championship: Best Eleven
• ASEAN Football Federation Best XI: 2019^[17]