NAMAT Abdullah, one of the more reliable and durable defenders for Malaysia and Penang, passed away yesterday following a long battle with cancer.
He was 74.
Namat died at his daughter’s house in Taiping yesterday at 5.30pm and was buried in Sungai Petani today.
He featured in the stellar achievements of Malaysian football in the late 60s and early 70s.
Namat was a member of the winning Malaysian team in the 1968 Merdeka Tournament. He also represented Malaysia in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and helped Malaysia win the bronze in the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran.
Namat became the national captain briefly in 1973 when M. Chandran was injured.
Namat’s younger brother Shaharuddin also played for Malaysia in the 1972 Olympics.
The other Olympic players were M. Chandran, Soh Chin Aun, V. Krishnasamy, Ali Bakar, Othman Abdullah, Khoo Huan Khen, Hamzah Hussain, Wan Zawai Wan Yusof, Ibrahim Salleh, Harun Jusoh, Kam Fook, Lim Fung Kee, Wong Choon Wah, Mohamad Bakar, Rahim Abdullah, Looi Loon Teik and Bahawandi Hiralal.
Malaysia then stunned mighty West Germany by holding them to a goalless draw at half time but were later beaten 3-0. Eventually, Malaysia finished third in the group, after beating the United States 3-0 and losing 6-0 to Morocco.
Namat also starred for Penang, leading the team to victory in the 1974 Malaysia Cup.
While Shaharuddin was the more famous as a feared forward in the state and national teams, Namat was a very dependable right-back.
Former Football Association of Penang (FAP) secretary Datuk Mohd Junid Mohd Noor, 76, said Namat came from a family of footballers.
He said Namat’s uncle, Aziz Ahmad, was a great centre forward in the 50s. Some of Aziz’s contemporaries included the famous Pang brothers – Seang Teik and Seang Hock – and M. Kuppan.
Besides Shaharuddin, Namat had a younger brother – Ridzuan – who had also featured for the Penang state team.
Namat started off his football career as a forward with Marine FC and later with the Penang Malays and the Penang Prisons in the local league.
“Namat had contributed a lot to the state and national teams. He was a disciplined player,” said Mohd Junid, who is currently a member of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) technical, youth and development committee and also a member of the National Football Development Programme steering committee.
“You never catch Namat shabbily dressed in a game. He was always smartly dressed, with jersey tucked in and boots shining.
“He was not a talkative person, but when he talked, he knew what he was talking.
“Namat was a dangerous player from dead ball situation. He had hefty shots.
“When he was playing for Prisons and I was playing for Ramblers in the Penang local league, I never stay in the wall because I feared Namat’s thundering shots from the free kicks.
“Another of his strong points was his crunching tackles. He had developed an art that each time when he went in for a tackle, I would say he would get the ball almost 100 per cent.
“Namat was also noted for his long throw-ins. He had that uncanny ability to hurl the ball from the corner flag till the goalmouth area. His spectacular throw-ins sometimes resulted in goals, as his brother Shaharuddin had good headers.”
Former national captain Soh Chin Aun too had fond memories of Namat whom he had played together for the national team for about seven years.
“Namat was a nice person; a simple and friendly man. To many, he might be a man of few words but actually, he was a joker. He was a hard tackler and quite fast too.”
Former Penang and Malaysian midfield maestro Shukor Salleh described Namat as a committed and disciplined player.
“He was a tough and no-nonsense player. He was always very smartly dressed and he cleaned his boots every time after a match.
“We had been together for many years since 1967. He talked a lot to players like myself and Khalil Hashim because we were very close.
“Namat was a tough tackler. I remember one incident when Singapore came to play a return match in Penang. Singapore’s striker Quah Kim Siak had made fun of us when we played there. So, during the return match, Namat took him out with a timely tackle. Namat got the ball as well as Quah’s ankle.”
Namat’s fellow 1972 Olympians Krishnasamy and Datuk Mohamad Bakar died in August and November respectively.
On Wednesday (Dec 16), former Penang coach Moey Yoke Ham, who had also played for the state and country, also passed away.
Namat leaves behind wife Datin Mahani Sulaiman, seven children and 16 grandchildren.
Story by K.H. Ong