FIFA Ranks Malaysia's 'Super Mokh' 3rd Highest Goal Scorer Of All Time
Many Malaysians are elated to see the late football legend's achievement being commemorated by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).
By Daranee Balachandar — 30 Jun 2021, 02:53 PM
International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has recognised Malaysian football legend Mokhtar Dahari as the third highest goal scorer of all time
FIFA tweeted Mokhtar and 12 other footballers' achievements in a post yesterday, 29 June.
Mokhtar — also known as Super Mokh — was placed third on the list, scoring 89 goals in total. He is the only Southeast Asian football player on the list.
Separately, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) also acknowledged Mokhtar's achievements in a report last Wednesday, 23 June.
This comes after Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals during a match against France in EURO 2020 last week, prompting the two football associations to update their top scorers list.
Ronaldo and former Iranian player Ali Daei both have scored 109 goals. Hence, they shared the top two spots together.
FIFA also recognised Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi in the same tweet, ranking him along with four other footballers who also scored 75 goals.
It is learnt that Mokhtar achieved the feat in 142 games. In other words, he scored an average of 0.62 goals in every match.
Other than being the top scorer in Southeast Asia, the national football legend also won the SEA Games in 1977 and 1979 while playing for Harimau Malaya, reported The Star.
He also won the Pestabola Merdeka tournament in 1973, 1974, 1776, and 1979 and was awarded the bronze medal in the 1974 Asian Games.
In 1975, Mokhtar was offered to join the Real Madrid C.F. He, however, turned it down because of his patriotism to his country and native club of Selangor.
The Selangor-born football legend passed away at age 37 in July 1991.
Meanwhile, a similar list acknowledging Mokhtar's ranking in the top three highest goal scorers of all time surfaced last year as well
Nigerian online news portal Legit noted that Mokhtar's achievements when Ronaldo scored his 100th goal in September 2020.
In April 2020, Twitter account HarimauMYstats released a list of Malaysian top goal scorers of all time. Mokhtar is the first on the list.
Under the FIFA tweet, many Malaysian football fans celebrated Mokhtar's accomplishment
Many netizens thanked him for making Malaysia proud.
