Soh Chin Ann

Yang Berbahagia Datuk Wira
Soh Chin Ann
DCSM DSIS DIMP AMN
Soh in 2020
Personal information
Date of birth (1950-07-28) 28 July 1950 (age 73)
Place of birth Alor Gajah, Malacca, British Malaya
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
1969 Malacca
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1969–1970 Malacca
1971–1978 Selangor
1979–1985 Malacca
1988 Malacca
International career
1969–1984 Malaysia 219 (13)
Managerial career
1989 Malacca
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Datuk Wira Soh Chin Ann DCSM DSIS DIMP AMN (or Soh Chin Aun due to misspelling by Malaysian media; simplified Chinese: 苏进安; traditional Chinese: 蘇進安; pinyin: Sū Jìn'ān; born 28 July 1950) is a Malaysian former footballer. He was affectionately known as Tauke or Towkay (English: Boss) by his teammates and fans. RSSSF and IFFHS recognised Soh as the player with the most international caps in men's football with 219 caps. He formerly held the record of all-time most appearances in FIFA international recognised matches with 195 caps, before being overtaken by Kuwait's Bader Al-Mutawa in 2022.

Club career

Soh started his football career with Malacca in 1969. He joined Selangor in 1971 and played for them until 1978 winning six Malaysia Cup titles. He returned to star for Malacca in 1979 and won the League Cup title in 1983 but was inactive for two years due to a one-year suspension in 1985. He captained Malacca in 1988 which was also his last appearances in the domestic league.

International career

National team

At the age of 19, Soh earned his full international caps for Malaysia at the 1969 King's Cup. In 1971, when he played in the Olympic qualifier in Seoul, South Korea, he was the youngest member of the national team at the age of 21. He participated in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games and playing all three group games. He also was the captain of the team that qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Malaysia did not participate in boycott of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. However, because of his contribution for helping Malaysia to qualify for the Olympics, he was awarded the Ahli Mangku Negara by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. He later took part in the 1980 AFC Asian Cup, where his Malaysia was eliminated from the group stage, yet Malaysia produced one of the finest performance ever under his leadership, with the team gaining a famous 1–1 draw over powerhouse South Korea; Soh gained fame as well for having an exceptional tournament, allowing him to be named into the Team of the Tournament by the AFC, the first Southeast Asian to receive such honour, a record which would stand until the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

Malaysia Selection

On 11 May 1975, Soh is part of the Malaysia Selection that played against Arsenal FC in a friendly match which his team won by 2–0 at Merdeka Stadium.

Retirement

He retired from international football in 1984 and made 250 international appearances as recorded by Football Association of Malaysia. Asian Football Confederation recognised his achievements and included him into AFC Century Club in February 1999.

Post-playing career

He was appointed as the chairman of the referees' committee on 13 March 2007. He was the team manager (not head coach) of Malaysia national football team from 2007 until 2009.

Political career

He once tried to make it in politics by contesting to be the Member of Parliament for Kota Melaka representing Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) of Barisan Nasional (BN) in 1986 but he suffered a defeat of 17,606 votes to Lim Guan Eng of Democratic Action Party (DAP).

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia
Year Constituency Candidate Votes Pct Opponent(s) Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
1986 P113 Kota Melaka Soh Chin Aun (MCA) 16,967 32.92% Lim Guan Eng (DAP) 34,573 67.08% 52,840 17,606 76.54%

Personal life

In 2016, he made a cameo appearance in Ola Bola as Soh Chin Aun, a character based on himself in the 1980 Moscow Olympics qualification campaign.

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Malaysia 1969 3 0
1970 12 0
1971 19 1
1972 16 3
1973 20 1
1974 12 0
1975 19 0
1976 16 2
1977 17 1
1978 16 0
1979 17 1
1980 19 1
1981 8 1
1982 0 0
1983 8 1
1984 17 1
Total 219 13
Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ann goal.
List of international goals scored by Soh Chin Ann
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 22 May 1971 Bangkok, Thailand  Brunei 8–0 1972 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2 29 July 1972 Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  South Korea 1–2 1972 Merdeka Tournament
3 20 September 1972 Seoul, South Korea  Khmer Republic 1–0 1972 President's Cup
4 22 September 1972 Seoul, South Korea  Thailand 1–1 1972 President's Cup
5 28 July 1973 Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Khmer Republic 1–0 1973 Merdeka Tournament
6 12 August 1976 Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  India 5–1 1976 Merdeka Tournament
7 20 August 1976 Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Japan 2–2 1976 Merdeka Tournament
8 29 July 1977 Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Indonesia 5–1 1977 Merdeka Tournament
9 9 May 1979 Bangkok, Thailand  North Korea 1–1 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification
10 2 November 1980 Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Morocco 1–2 1980 Merdeka Tournament
11 17 April 1981 Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Singapore 1–2 Ovaltine Cup
12 19 September 1983 Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium, Kota Bahru, Malaysia    Nepal 7–0 1983 Merdeka Tournament
13 3 April 1984 Christchurch, New Zealand  New Zealand 1–6 Friendly

Honours

Selangor

Malacca

Malaysia

Individual

Records

  • Malaysia national football team all-time most appearances: 219
  • The first men's footballers to reach 200 or more international caps (according to RSSSF and IFFHS): 219
  • 20th century most international caps in men's football (1901–2000): 219
  • The first Asian footballers to reach 100 or more international wins for national team: 108
  • The first footballers to reach 100 or more international wins for national team (1969–1984): 108

Order

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-03-28 08:55 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari