PETALING JAYA: While the Malaysian football team failed to advance to the second round of the Asian Cup, one diehard fan who sold his bike to fund his trip to watch Malaysia compete in Qatar came home a winner.
Derrick Gan, 30, has been gifted a brand new motorcycle from Modenas, which called him “the 12th player of Harimau Malaya team” for his devotion to the squad.
“Forever a Malayan Tiger!” Modenas said in a social media post.
The bike, a Karisma scooter, was in recognition of his fervour for the national team, as seen in his emotional reaction to Malaysia’s hard fought draw with South Korea on Thursday.
Gan gained Internet fame and earned the nickname “abang rambut perang” (brown-haired bro) when he was caught on camera crying tears of joy the moment Malaysia scored the second goal against South Korea during the match in Qatar.
“There are no words to describe my feelings at that time. I was happy after sacrificing and seeing Malaysia fighting with enthusiasm; it was really touching,” he told Bernama a day after the match.
Gan, upon his arrival at the KL International Airport on Saturday, was presented with the motorcycle.
His devotion to the Malaysian football team became well-known when he posted on Facebook last month about selling his beloved bike for RM4,500 to make it to Qatar for the Harimau Malaya match against South Korea.
It was the only motorcycle he ever had. He owns a car but it is mainly used by his wife.
“But I didn’t mind selling the bike because I really wanted to go to Qatar to cheer for Harimau Malaya in this historic round of football,” he had been quoted as saying.
Gan, who works in a shop selling motorcycle accessories, said he left for Qatar on Jan 19 to watch Malaysia’s second and last matches of Group E, against Bahrain and South Korea.
The trip had been meticulously planned for over a year after the Malayan Tigers qualified for the 2023 Asian Cup on merit.
However, despite saving up RM1,500, he ended up having to sell his bike for the RM6,000 overall expenditure which included flight tickets, food, accommodation and football tickets, Bernama reported.
Malaysia held South Korea to a 3-3 draw last Thursday.
“Stealing a draw with South Korea is very meaningful.
“It’s like a dream come true for all of us Malaysian football fans because my focus there was solely to watch football,” Gan had said.
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