14 Mac 1987 – Harimau Malaya di Kelayakan Olimpik ‘88
Daripada #ArkibLegasiLagenda, kami paparkan salah satu jersi pasukan Malaysia semasa Kelayakan Sukan Olimpik Seoul 1988. Jersi kepunyaan Allahyarham Hashim Mustapha ini turut ditandatangani beliau.
Pada pusingan pertama, Malaysia ditempatkan dalam Kumpulan 2, di mana mereka dijadual untuk bertemu Korea Utara dan Thailand. Namun, Korea Utara enggan bermain kerana masih berharap untuk menjadi tuan rumah bersama Korea Selatan dan sepatutnya kayak secara automatik. Mereka akhirnya hilang kelayakan untuk menyertai kejohanan Pra-Olimpik dan didenda oleh FIFA.
Pada 14 Mac 1987, Harimau Malaya bertemu Thailand di Stadium Merdeka untuk perlawanan pertama mereka di mana 25,000 penonton turun memenuhi stadium untuk memberi sokongan padu kepada pasukan Harimau Malaya. Malangnya Malaysia tewas 0–1. Pasukan pelawat mendapat gol awal pada minit ketujuh melalui Ronnachai Sayomchai yang menewaskan penjaga gol Malaysia, Salleh Mohamed Noor.
Perlawanan timbal balik Malaysia-Thailand juga berlangsung di Stadium Merdeka pada 18 Mac.
Bagaimana pula prestasi Harimau Malaya pada perlawanan kedua itu?
March 14, 1987
Harimau Malaya at the ’88 Olympic Games Qualification
From our archives, we share one of the two Malaysian jerseys made for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games Qualification. This particular jersey, originally owned by Allahyarham Hashim Mustapha, was signed by him as well.
Malaysia was placed in Group 2 in the first round, where they were originally supposed to meet North Korea and Thailand. However, North Korea refused to play the qualifying matches as they believed they should be automatically qualified. At the time, they were still hoping to be co-hosts alongside South Korea. They were subsequently disqualified and fined by FIFA.
On March 14, 1987, Malaysia met Thailand at the Merdeka Stadium for their first match, where 25,000 home fans were present to show their unwavering support. The visiting team took an early lead after Ronnachai Sayomchai scored in the seventh minute, defeating Malaysian goalkeeper Salleh Mohamed Noor. Unfortunately, Malaysia were not able to land a goal of their own and lost 0–1.
Malaysia met Thailand again for their second match on March 18.
We will see how they fared then.
