For what he did 8 years ago, Azmi Muslim will forever share a similar result with the great Mokhtar Dahari, who achieved him 37 years before him.
In 1975, Malaysian legend Mokhtar scored twice against mighty Arsenal in a friendly match, but was unaware that his feat would be repeated by another Malaysian in 2012. Eight years ago, Arsenal returned to these shores for their second consecutive year having already played a 2011 pre-season tour match in Kuala Lumpur, when they fled 4-0 over Malaysia.
Arsenal had just finished the 2011/12 season in third place behind both Manchester clubs City and United with Arsene Wenger facing a second consecutive summer of losing his club captain to Robin Van Persie after seeing Cesc Fabregas leave the previous summer. While interesting enough, that match in 2012 contained Wenger’s eventual replacement in Mikel Arteta.
Wenger’s side returned to the game thanks to two late goals from Thomas Eisfeld and Chuks Aneke after Azmi scored a thunderous opening goal for Malaysia in the first half. A goal that the then ATM player and now the captain of Pulau Pinang will always remember fondly.
“To be honest, I saw the open space in front of me and thought why not try. I had faith in my shooting skills and maybe I could force the goalkeeper to make a save. But I connected with the ball softly. And it is flew at the corner of the posts: it was incredible to have been able to score against a top club.
“They never expected to indulge us and we can all see that in their response. They reacted angrily at each other for giving me the space to shoot. It was great to see,” Azmi recalled at the time. Objective.
That was a time when Malaysia as a country was often honored by the presence of Premier League clubs for their pre-season friendlies, but that Arsenal match was the beginning of the end. Only three other teams from England have come here to play at City, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool since.
While for most of the matches, the stadium was sold to the brim – matches like these were not taken kindly by sections of local fans who thought those matches should have been played using a Malaysia Super League XI instead of the national team.
A perspective that Azmi fully understands and accepts but, at the same time, he was pleased to be among those who had the chance to participate in those matches against players they would normally only see on television or on the internet.
“It was a golden opportunity for me to be chosen to be on the squad to face both Arsenal and Manchester City. It is a privilege for me to be able to play against two prestigious names who have won Premier League titles previously. It’s not something that has often happened to players from this region and in that sense I felt really lucky.
“It’s an unforgettable moment for me. Yes, there are many other great memories in my professional career from competitive matches for my team and for the national team, but despite what some may think of matches like these, it will always be a good time. for me to love being able to be part of those devices.
“We took it as an experience to face such big clubs that do things very differently to us and it’s on a different level for us. It’s not a daily opportunity to play against the best players and even if it’s just a ‘ friendly, there are a lot of things we can take off by playing in that game, “added Azmi.
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