Shaharuddin Abdullah

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Abdullah is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Shaharuddin. The word "bin" or "binti"/"binte" means 'son of' or 'daughter of', respectively.

Shaharuddin Abdullah (28 August 1948 – 28 December 2023) was a Malaysian footballer.^[3] He was once one of the most feared strikers in the country, known as "Harimau Malaysia" because of his ability to score goals.^[4][5] He once scored 15 goals for Malaysia in the Merdeka Cup which stood as a record for a very long time.^{[citation needed]} His father, Abdullah Mohammad, was a goalkeeper for Penang in the 1950s.^{[citation needed]} He was a part of the Malaysian squad at the 1972 Summer Olympics.^[6][7]

Shaharuddin Abdullah

Personal information
Date of birth	(1948-08-28)28 August 1948[1]
Place of birth	Penang, Federation of Malaya
Date of death	28 December 2023(2023-12-28) (aged 75)
Place of death	Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder, striker
Youth career
1964–1967	Penang FA
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1967–1969	Penang
1970–1973	Penjara FC
1974–1982	Penang
International career
1967–1974	Malaysia	70[2]	(39)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Abdullah started to play football when he was nine years old. He used the Marin Sg. Gelugor field near his house to learn football skills.^{[citation needed]} He helped his school, Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Gelugor, to win the district and inter-school championships.^{[citation needed]}

In 1964 when he was 16 years old, he was selected to play for the Penang Burnley Cup team along with his brother, Namat Abdullah, Ali Bakar, Mohammed Bakar, Khalil Hashim, Cha Peng Chiang, Yap Kim Kok and N Baskaran.^[8]

Abdullah played for Malaysia in the 1972 Munich Olympics.^[9] Shaharuddin played in all three group games and scored in the 3–0 win against the United States.^{[10][11][12][13]} Overall he made 70 appearances and scored 39 international goals for Malaysia.^[14]

In 2004, he was inducted in Olympic Council of Malaysia's Hall of Fame for 1972 Summer Olympics football team.^[15]

Personal life

Namat Abdullah, his brother also played for Penang and together with his uncle, Aziz Ahmad.^[16] Shaharuddin's son, Shafiq Shaharudin, is also a professional footballer.^[17][18]

Shaharuddin Abdullah died on 28 December 2023, at the age of 75.^[19]

Career Statistics

International

Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Abdullah goal.

List of international goals scored by Shaharuddin Abdullah

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	14 August 1968	Perak Stadium, Ipoh, Malaysia	South Vietnam	—	4-0	1968 Merdeka Tournament	[2]
2	25 August 1968	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Burma	—	3-0	1968 Merdeka Tournament	[2]
3	30 October 1969	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Thailand	1-0	1-0	1969 Merdeka Tournament	[2]
4	3 November 1969	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Indonesia	—	1-3	1969 Merdeka Tournament	[2]
5	7 November 1969	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Burma	—	3-1	1969 Merdeka Tournament	[2]
6				—
7	9 November 1969	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Indonesia	—	2-3	1969 Merdeka Tournament	[2]
8	19 November 1969	Bangkok, Thailand	Thailand	—	2-2	1969 King's Cup	[2]
9	7 December 1969	Bogyoke Aung San Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar	Laos	—	2-1	1969 SEAP Games	[2]
10	8 December 1969	Bogyoke Aung San Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar	South Vietnam	—	2-1	1969 SEAP Games	[2]
11	4 August 1970	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Taiwan	—	3-1	1970 Merdeka Tournament	[2]
12				—
13	9 November 1970	Bangkok, Thailand	Khmer Republic	1-0	1-1	1970 King's Cup	[2]
14	20 November 1970	Bangkok, Thailand	Indonesia	1-0	3-1	1970 King's Cup	[2]
15				2-0
16				—
17	22 May 1971	Bangkok, Thailand	Brunei	3-0	8-0	1972 AFC Asian Cup qualification	[2]
18				5-0
19				8-0
20	28 May 1971	Bangkok, Thailand	Hong Kong	—	2-1	1972 AFC Asian Cup qualification	[2]
21				—
22	8 November 1971	Bangkok, Thailand	South Korea	—	2-2	1971 King's Cup	[2]
23	12 December 1971	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Laos	—	5-0	1971 SEAP Games	[2]
24	14 December 1971	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Thailand	—	4-2	1971 SEAP Games	[2]
25				—
26	17 December 1971	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	South Vietnam	1-2	3-2	1971 SEAP Games	[20]
27				2-2
28				3-2
29	18 December 1971	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Burma	1-1	1-2	1971 SEAP Games	[21]
30	12 July 1972	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Sri Lanka	2-0	4-1	1972 Merdeka Tournament	[2]
31				3-0
32				4-0
33	19 July 1972	Perak Stadium, Ipoh, Malaysia	Khmer Republic	—	6-1	1972 Merdeka Tournament	[2]
34				—
35	22 July 1972	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Japan	2-1	3-1	1972 Merdeka Tournament	[2]
36				3-1
37	29 August 1972	ESV-Stadion, Ingolstadt, Germany	United States	—	3-0	1972 Summer Olympics	[22]
38	28 September 1972	Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea	Indonesia	1-0	1-3	1972 President's Cup	[23]
39	23 May 1973	Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea	Thailand	1-0	2-0	1974 FIFA World Cup qualification	[24]

Honours

Penang

• Burnley Cup: 1964–65, 1966
• Malaysia Kings Gold Cup: 1966, 1968, 1969
• Malaysia Cup: 1974

Penjara

• Malaysia FAM Cup: 1970, 1971, 1973

Malaysia

• Bronze medal Asian Games: 1974
• Kings Cup: 1972
• Merdeka Tournament: 1968, 1973, 1974