The First Asian Youth Football Tournament 1959

For the first time, the Asian Youth Cup Football Tournament was held in 1959 at Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur and Malaya was the host country. The competition involved various countries such as Malaya, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Burma, Philippines and Singapore. The cup for the tournament was named as the Rahman Cup. The First Asian Youth Football Tournament 1959 was inaugurated by Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the First Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya on 19 April 1959 at the Merdeka Stadium and followed by a parade of 9 national teams competing in this tournament. The Malaya team consist of Ahmad Dollah, Ong Kim Leng, Robert Choe, Ng Boon Bee, Ahmad Taufik, Tang Chong Hin, Roslan Buang, Pang Kee Kong, Yee Seng Choy, Teh Cheng Lee (goalkeeper) and Abdullah Noordin. In the first match, Malaya met Sri Lanka and defeat 12-0 against Sri Lanka. Ng Boon Bee scored 7 goals, Robert Choe scored 3 goals and Ahmad Dollah scored 2 goals for Malaya. This greatest winning was witnessed by 13,000 spectators and celebrated with joy. During the match between the Malaya and Sri Lanka, the ball was accidentally went to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong seat. Tun Abdul Razak, who was there, stood up and catched the ball perfectly. All the spectators gave a loud applause on the spontaneous action by Tun Abdul Razak.

MALAYA
Front row: Ahmad Dollah, Ong Kim Leng, Robert Choe, Ng Boon Bee, and Ahmad Taufik,
Middle row: Tang Chong Hin, Roslan Buang, and Pang Kee Kong,
Back row: Yee Seng Choy, Teh Cheng Lee and Abdullah Noordin.

In the second game, Malaya met Hong Kong and defeat Hong Kong easily with the scores of 7-0. In this match, Hong Kong has lost the pace and everything went chaos. Malaya goalkeeper, Teh Cheng Lee managed to dismiss all attacks from Hong Kong. Goals from Malaya were scored by Ong Kim Leng with 3 goals, Ng Boon Bee with 2 goals, Tang Chong Hin with one goal and Robert Choe with one goal. In the match between Malaya and Sri Lanka, Ng Boon Bee was a hero, while for the match between Malaya and Hong Kong, Ong Kim Leng (young player from Negeri Sembilan) was a hero. Again, Malaya has won a big victory in front of the 15,000 spectators who cheered with joy.

The next match was the focused match between Malaya and Japan witnessed by 16,000 spectators. As expected, again Malaya has made a big win over the Japan by defeating Japan with the scores of 6-0. Malaya advanced to the final match cannot be stopped even by Japan who surprised by the excellent performances of Malaya. Unexpectedly, Malaya has been a favorite team and was hailed by other teams in the the First Asian Youth Football Tournament 1959 and has won three major victories.

Finally, Malaya went to the final match against South Korea who were as strong as the Malaya. The final match went fiercely and the two teams tried to score. Finally, the first goal was scored by Robert Choe from Malaya who hit the ball from a distance of 5 meters to the South Korea goal post. Nevertheless, the excitement for the Malaya was temporary and the South Korea retaliated with a score of 2 goals which eventually became the winning goal for the South Korea to win this tournament. Third place won by Japan after defeating Hong Kong. Although Malaya lost in the final match and earned second place in the First Asian Youth Football Tournament 1959, Tunku Abdul Rahman remained full support by advising the Malayan footballers to continue working harder and did not give up on the fight in any football competition. Tunku Abdul Rahman also presented Rolex watches to all Malayan footballers for appreciating their hard works in this tournament. The Asian Youth Football Tournament was Tunku Abdul Rahman's idea after he was appointed as Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President in 1958 and the idea was agreed upon by the delegates in the AFC.

Kim Chung Seark with Rahman's Cup raised by South Korean footballers after South Korea won  the First Asian Youth Football Tournament 1959. South Korea also won a winning prize of 12,000 Malayan Dollar.


Below is the runners-up medal won by Malaya in the First Asian Youth Football Tournament 1959 after Malaya lost to South Korea 1-2 in the final match. The goal for Malaya scored by Robert Choe. The final match was held in Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

Front view.

Back view.

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