Malaysia 2

 

Indra Putra Mahayuddin (right, Pahang)
vs. China (1:5) | Asian Cup | 2007 in Malaysia

Malaysia is surely an incredible country, but not exactly known for its national football team. The Harimau Malaya (Malayan Tigers) very regularly fail to qualify for major events and have recently fallen behind other South East Asian teams like Vietnam or Thailand, which both are slowly going up the ranks. It is unlikely that we see Malaysia in a World Cup anytime soon, but one can only hope that the huge country, which is full of passionate football shirt collectors, does at least clearly rise above Singapore, a city state to its South, soon.

 This shirt is a bit of an historic one. It is from the 2007 Asian Cup, which was co-hosted by Malaysia. It was the only Asian Cup Malaysia played in since 1980 and it was only in 2023 that Malaysia qualified again, finally. It is also a nice design, an striped design rather unusual for national teams - and very much resembling Borussia Dortmund. I am happy with the shirt, which unlike my first Malaysia shirt is not a kids sized, but a proper adult football shirt. I got it for somewhere between 30 and 40 Euro off eBay, if I recall correctly.