Since Merdeka, Which Football Team Deserve to be Called Malaysia's Greatest Ever? Inevitably, There Is Intense Debate Among Fans with Opinions Divided Over Star Power and Results.
As Malaysia celebrates its 64th Independent Day today, Timesport look back at the country's past national teams.
With Malaysian football history showing little success at world level, the candidates are few and far in between in the past 64 years.
However, there is one team that stood out, and who incidentally celebrate the 49th anniversary of what is arguably Malaysia's greatest football achievement in this august month.
The team that qualified for the 1972 Munich Olympics are the team that till today, still fill Malaysians with pride.
That remarkable class of '72. Coached by Jalil Che Din, they etched their place in Malaysian football history with both star power and their exploits.
Malaysia qualified for the 1972 Olympics in style — with an unbeaten record, and not conceding a single goal in their wins over Japan (3-0), South Korea (1-0), Taiwan (3-0) and the Philippines (5-0).
And against formidable opposition in Munich, the team creditably won one match and lost two.
Malaysia's opening Group A match against football superpower West Germany at the Olympic Stadium in Munich was played in front of 60,000 spectators.
They went down 3-0, but bounced back with a 3-0 victory over the United States. However, Malaysia lost 6-0 to Morocco in their last group match.
Malaysia, minnows in Munich, found themselves having to weather the German blitzkrieg which blazed with superstars like Ottmar Hitzfeld and Uli Hoeness.
The plucky Malaysians managed to keep the West Germans at bay till the 56th minute before penetrated by goals from Ronald Worm (56th minute), Jurgen Kalb (71st) and Rudolf Saliger (82nd).
Despite the defeat, the Malaysians still showed belief in themselves as they bounced back to rout the United States 3-0 with goals from Shahruddin Abdullah, Salleh Ibrahim and Wan Zawawi Wan Yusof.
The win over the Americans saw Malaysia reviving their hopes of reaching the second round, but injuries to key players led to them losing 6-0 to Morocco at the ESV-Stadion in Ingolstadt on Aug 31.
This dashed the Malaysian team's hopes of giving the country a memorable Merdeka Day present.
The '72 side might have fallen short in Malaysia's Olympic debut in football, but such was their heartwarming show in Munich that it left a lasting impression till today.
Their game against the country who was to later become the world conquering Die Mannschaft, has without doubt earned them a place in Malaysian football folklore.
The West German team, after the Munich Olympics, went on to win the 1972 European championship and 1974 World Cup.
Malaysia's line-up against West Germany: Goalkeeper - Wong Kam Fook; Defenders - Othman Abdullah, Namat Abdullah, M. Chandran, Bahwandi Hiralal; Midfielders - Soh Chin Ann, Wong Choon Wah, Salleh Ibrahim, Wan Zawawi Wan Yusoff; Strikers - Rahim Abdullah, Shaharuddin Abdullah; Substitutes - Hamzah Hussain for Wong Choon Wah, Looi Loon Teik for Abdullah Rahim.