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Datuk Soh Chin Ann is number one on FIFA's list of players with the most International Caps
With the latest addition, Malaysia can be proud of seven players on the list. - Photo/FAM
KUALA LUMPUR: National football legend, Datuk Soh Chin Ann has finally been listed in the FIFA Century Club as the player with the most international caps.
The 71 -year -old is one of four national legends including Zainal Abidin Hassan, the late Datuk M Chandran and Datuk Santokh Singh who were listed by FIFA in the latest update on Tuesday.
FIFA Century Club is exclusive to players who have played at least 100 international matches.
Chin Ann, who represented Malaysia from 1969-1984, was in first place with 195 caps , 10 appearances more than Bader Almotawaa of Kuwait who was in second place.
Among the other big names on the ‘Top 10’ list are Sergio Ramos of Spain (180th, fifth place), Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal (179th, sixth) and Gianluigi Buffon of Italy (176, ninth).
Ronaldo remains the only player capable of breaking Chin Ann’s record as he is still actively representing Portugal in the international football arena.
Zainal, Chandran and Santokh collected 116, 115 and 100 caps respectively.
With the latest addition, Malaysia is proud to have seven players on the list.
Datuk Abdul Shukor Salleh (163), the late Datuk Mokhtar Dahari (138) and the late Datuk R. Arumugam (131) are the first to be listed, based on an update last May.
Although Chin Ann's overall appearance with the national squad was 252 times as recorded by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), only 195 of them were counted as class A competitions.
Chin Ann, who wore the national squad captain’s armband from 1975 until retiring in 1984, was happy with the news.
“Thank you FIFA and FAM for this recognition. I feel quite overwhelmed by the confirmation of this record.
"Being the player with the most appearances in the world is the highest honor for me," he said.
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