3 SEPTEMBER – Detik Hitam Harimau Malaya

3 September dianggap sebagai salah satu tarikh yang paling gelap dalam sejarah bola sepak Malaysia. 

Peminat Harimau Malaya terkejut apabila pasukan kebangsaan tewas kepada UAE 10–0 di Kelayakan Piala Dunia 2018 pada tahun 2015. Prestasi hambar Malaysia mencatatkan rekod kekalahan terburuk negara ketika itu. Ia mengatasi kekalahan terbesar mereka sebelum itu, di mana Malaysia tewas 8–2 kepada New Zealand pada tahun 1967. 

Keputusan yang menyebabkan ketua jurulatih Dollah Salleh meletakkan jawatan masih menghantui sejarah bola sepak Malaysia sehingga hari ini. Diaibkan dengan kekalahan itu, Dollah yang merupakan legenda era 1980-90-an, berkata pada masa itu, “siapa yang boleh menerima kekalahan 10-0?”

Namun, ia bukan kali pertama Harimau Malaya mengalami kekalahan besar pada tarikh ini. 

Lebih 40 tahun sebelum itu, Malaysia beraksi di Sukan Asia Teheran 1974. Pada pusingan pertama, pasukan kebangsaan diletakkan dalam Kumpulan C bersama Israel, Jepun dan Filipina. Perlawanan pertama mereka adalah pada 3 September menentang Israel. 

Hanya 17 minit dalam perlawanan, Israel telah menjaringkan tiga gol and dua lagi sebelum separuh masa. Malaysia berjaya membalas dengan tiga gol dalam babak kedua melalui jaringan daripada Wan Zawawi (59’) dan Syed Ahmad (74’ 83’). Malah ia tidak cukup. Israel pula menambah tiga gol lagi sebelum wisel penamat.  Keputusan akhirnya ialah Israel 8 – 3 Malaysia. 

Walau bagaimanapun, Malaysia terus berjuang dan bangkit untuk memperoleh pingat gangsa di kejohanan tersebut dan berjaya mengulangi kejayaan Malaya pada edisi 1962. Nantikan paparan yang seterusnya apabila kami mengimbas kembali perjalanan Harimau Malaya di Sukan Asia Teheran 1974 dalam masa terdekat. 

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September 3rd is considered one of the darkest days in Malaysian football history. 

Local fans were shocked when Harimau Malaya lost to UAE 10-0 at the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers in 2015. The national team’s catastrophic performance set the record for the country’s worst ever defeat. The result overtook their previous biggest loss, where they were defeated 8-2 by New Zealand in 1967.

The monumental loss that led to head coach Dollah Salleh sending in his resignation still haunts Malaysia’s football history today. Humiliated by the loss, the 1980-90s legend told the press at the time, “who can accept a 10-0 defeat?”

It was not the first time Harimau Malaya suffered from such a big defeat on this specific date. Over 40 years earlier, Malaysia was playing at the Tehran 1974 Asian Games. 

In the first round, the national team was placed in Group C with Israel, Japan and the Philippines. Their first match was on September 3rd against Israel. 17 minutes into the match, Israel had scored 3 goals and two more before half time. Malaysia managed to retaliate with three goals in the second half through Wan Zawawi (59’) and Syed Ahmad (74’, 83) but it was not enough as Israel also added three more themselves. The final result was Israel 8 – 3 Malaysia. 
However, Malaysia would go on to secure the bronze medal, repeating Malaya’s victory in 1962. Stay tuned as we look back on Harimau Malaya’s journey at the 1974 Tehran Asian Games in the near future.