You knew it was coming, didn’t you?
When you’re losing away from home, in conditions that you’re not entirely familiar with, the luxury of being able to bring on someone like Amri Yahyah is one that you’d greatly appreciate. When the veteran forward was brought on against Qadsia SC yesterday, you could almost see the strains of composure in his eyes. Few moments later, he was already latching onto a through ball from Mahali, stretching the Qadsia defence, like he always does.
Then on the 82nd minute, there was ecstacy on the pitch. Six years after his impeccable strike against Man United at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, Amri produced somewhat of a replica of that goal to make it 3-1 and seal the elusive away goal for JDT. Experience and ability alone, doesn’t grant you the license, nor the confidence to do that. It takes composure – an element that isn’t exactly omnipresent amongst Malaysian footballers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUxEPPWXBg0
Every Malaysian Man United fan would remember the exact moment Amri Yahya beat Edwin Van der Sar with an audacious chip back in 2009.
While there was a visible sea of red across the Bukit Jalil Stadium, every single Malaysian in the crowd, irrespective of the crest that was on their chest at that point, stood up and cheered for the goal. The inner patriotism emerged rather unsurprisingly, and it merely took a reaffirmation of what Malaysian players are capable of, to bring that out.
Most football fans in Malaysia are cynics. We’re quick to criticize players, even if they are world class individuals with years to training and practice under their belt, playing for some of the biggest teams in the world. So it’s no surprise that local football gets constantly shunned by plenty of individuals within the country. But that’s the worst-case scenario – even if you happen to follow Malaysian football closely, chances are that your patience wears thin pretty quickly. Our defeat to UAE is still being talked about today, but very few people discuss the way in which we bounced back with a resilient display against Saudi Arabia, merely days later.
It’s also the reason why we constantly live in the shadows of our former greats. Mokhtar Dahari continues to dominate discussions today, though it’s been almost 24 years since he passed away. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an absolute legend in every way possible, for all the things he did for Selangor as well as Malaysia. But our obsession with Mokhtar partially blinds us in appreciating the fine ones within the current generation of players. One individual, whose sheer ability has often been trivialized because of that, is Amri Yahya.
There are very few players in Malaysia that have displayed such consistency when it comes to their performance on the pitch. A few years back, Safee Sali was touted as the next big thing in Malaysia – and he certainly looked value for money at that point. Safee’s goalscoring record with Selangor was nothing short of sensational and he carried that form into his tenure with Pelita Jaya as well. But that hype eventually died off, and he’s no longer the player he used to be. The same can be said with Norshahrul Idlan and even Safiq Rahim – whose form has dwindled significantly before.
It’s unfair to suggest that Amri has never suffered from a lost of tempo/form, but on a large-scale, he’s always been a big-game player, hasn’t he? Besides scoring two goals against Man United in 2009, he also netted against Barcelona in 2013. Back in 2001, when Selangor went up against Perlis in the second round of the FA Cup, they lost the first leg 3-0. But the Red Giants bounced back in the second leg and claimed a 3-0 lead to make it 3-3 on aggregate. The 21 year-old Amri then scored in injury time to seal a 4-3 win and secure Selangor’s progression into the next round. One year later, he scored a golden goal to help Selangor lift the Malaysia Cup for the first time in five years.
Amri has always been a team player as well. Back in 2005, when Selangor possessed the likes of Ellie Aiboy, Bambang Pamungkas and Brian Fuentes to spearhead their offensive department, Amri struggled to get into the team, until he was converted into a makeshift fullback by Dollah Salleh. Amri fulfilled the role seamlessly, sacrificing for the sake of his boyhood club. Till today, the versatile player doesn’t have a fixed position. It’s fair to say that Amri’s position depends on the needs of his team in a particular match. He’s played on both flanks, he’s played as a lone forward, and he’s even featured in deeper roles for JDT as well as the Malaysian national team. Impressively enough, he does it effortlessly.
He has netted a total of 110 goals for Selangor and 15 with Johor DT thus far. He has 14 titles to his name, including four Malaysia Super League triumphs. And he was also part of Datuk K. Rajagopal’s historic Malaysian squad, that lifted the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup. On paper alone, he’s a pure legend. But if you’ve followed him over the years, you’ll know the brilliance in him. Even during the toughest times, Amri is one the few players who will have his chin up, working his socks off till the very last whistle in a game.
Last night was a reiteration of what he means to Malaysian football. Things may not be at an optimum level right now. There’s an ongoing crisis with FAM, we don’t have a permanent national team head coach at this point, clubs are still struggling to be professional and corruption as well as match-fixing continues to be a niggling issue. But none of that should deflect any attention or appraisal away from Amri. He’s been an exceptional athlete for the country, he’s always carried himself in a professional way. And in the midst of all the negative things that exists in Malaysian football, Amri is a positive spark that’s necessary to continuously generate interest on local football.
But is he the greatest Malaysian player of his generation? I’d say yes. But that’s just me. Have your say by voting below!
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