The record holders: Cristiano Ronaldo (inset) with 196 international caps has overtaken Malaysia’s former skipper Soh Chin Aun’s (with Merdeka Cup) tally of 195 while Shukor Salleh (left) has 163.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysian football legend Datuk Soh Chin Aun’s remarkable number of 195 international caps has been overtaken by Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
In Saturday’s quarter-final match against Morocco in ongoing World Cup in Qatar, the 37-year-old Ronaldo came on in the second-half to play his 196th game for Portugal.
But it turned out to be heartbreak for the former Manchester United winger as his nation lost to the Atlas Lions 0-1 at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha.
Ronaldo has also confirmed that it was his final game in the World Cup after having played in five editions since 2006.
Ronaldo has now equalled the all-time international record of 196 caps, which is held by Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutwas.
As for the 72-year-old Chin Aun, nicknamed Towkay, he is among the national leg ends including Zainal Abidin Hassan, Datuk Shukor Salleh, Datuk Santokh Singh, and the late Datuk M. Chandran, Mokhtar Dahar and, R. Arumugam, who were inducted into the FIFA Century Club.
The FIFA Century Club is exclusive to players who have played 100 international matches and above. Chin Aun represented Malaysia from 1969-1984.
Shukor has the second highest international caps after Chin Aun with 163. Mokhtar has 138 caps, while Arumugam has 131. Zainal, Chandran and Santokh have collected 116, 115 and 100 caps respectively.
Although Chin Aun’s overall appearances was recorded by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) as 252 caps, only 195 of them were counted as A-category matches.
