MALAYSIANSKINI In January 2016, Malaysians flocked to the cinemas to watch the fictionalised exploits of the 1980 national football team which qualified for the Olympics.
Just as the story was based on real events, so too were the characters, including the team captain who goes by the nickname Tauke.
The real-life Tauke, Soh Chin Aun, has had a long illustrious career. He played for Malaysia at the 1972 Munich Olympics, qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and came to be known as a legend on the field.
But such achievements were far from Soh's mind when at the age of eight he started playing football with his brothers at the field across his father's shop in Alor Gajah, Malacca.
"I was raised right in front of the field, that's where I stayed, that was where my father had a business.
“We were young, we just played. We don't know what is (proper) football or what it is to represent the country,” the now 67-year-old Soh told Malaysiakini.
The connection between his father's shop and the field would follow Soh into his career, when the late Jalil Che Din - coach of the Malaysian football team for the 1972 Munich Olympics - gave him the nickname "Tauke" (boss) for his style of play.
“When I play, the coach... they say lah I'm cool, that when I get the ball, I (act like I) don't care. I'm like, you know, they say I'm like a tauke lah,” he said.
From playing on the field for fun without any rules, Soh graduated to playing in a more organised setting at the age of 12 when he competed for the Alor Gajah Chinese School in an inter-school game. Five years later he represented Alor Gajah in the Burnley Cup Youth Tournament.
Eventually, the centre back became part of the national team in 1969 at the tender age of 19 - the youngest member at the time - and went on to play alongside other football giants like Mokhtar Dahari and R Arumugam.
While the 1980 Malaysian football team may be more popular now thanks to the film Ola Bola, for Soh, it was the 1972 Olympics that was the most memorable.
“That was the first time, I would say we made history for our national football team, qualifiying for the Olympics.
“That was one of the best memories, we can't forget it, especially for me and all our team-mates,” Soh said.
The team had performed strongly in 1971 qualifiers beating Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Phillipines.
However, their performance was less impressive in Munich, securing a win against the US but losing to West Germany and Morocco.
Addressing allegations that the poor results were due to a major shake-up in the team, with many good players being dropped, Soh said it had all to do with either discipline or poor performance.
“I think its because of some disciplinary problem with some players. They were dropped partly because either they are not good enough or had disciplinary issues,” he said.
Soh is not entirely straitlaced, himself - he describes himself as a graduate of "GAB university", referring to his headier alcohol-laden younger days. But he knew when to toe the line.
Besides, he said, team managers were very strict those days.
After his successes in football, Soh also tried out his hand in politics, contesting for the Kota Melaka parliamentary seat in 1986 at the behest of MCA, of which he was a member.
He lost the contest to a debuting Lim Guan Eng. It was his first and last time in the political arena.
“I think it’s not for me, for me to kowtow to you, sorry. You ask me (to ask people) to vote for me, I beg you, sorry, that's not my style. That was where, after the experience I told myself this is not for me.”
Soh now spends his days in his home town of Alor Gajah and looking after his business and his family including his father who is now 101-years-old.
The footballer is also now an avid golfer, although he does have a football academy in his name.
This is his story in his own words.
I HAD A VERY GOOD FEELING when I was playing for the Burnley Cup and I saw some of of the national team's games. I watched the Merdeka tournament and to be frank, from my feelings, seeing how they played, I told myself I'll be a national player one of these days.
The way they played, and the way I felt I played, I thought that I can make it.
True enough, after one or two years I made it to the national team in 1969
IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR OWN INDIVIDUAL STRENGTHS. In 1971 when we qualified for the Olympics we had very strong good individuals. That was how we made up a really strong team, especially since we have very strong defense.
WE HAVE TO TRAIN IN THE MORNING, we have to train in the afternoon and we train sometimes at 2pm because the coach felt that if you can play under the hot sun, I'm sure you can play better at night.
WE WERE VERY LUCKY especially when we played against the Koreans (in 1971).
To be frank with you, out of 90 minutes, maybe 83-85 minutes we were defending. After we scored the goal, that is when we started to defend from head to tail. They were attacking like rain, they kept coming, but they just couldn't score.
We defended very well. But based on the real situation, during that time, I would say we were lucky.
TO ME THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS IDOLS. (But) of course you've got people like Maradonna, Messi and Pele. They are all very good players. They are wonderful players. We have to really admire their ability.
I like teams like Barcelona, the way they play.
I DON'T KEEP JERSEYS, I don't keep everything (memorabilia). Last time, (when we) played it was so dirty. The Merdeka stadium field was full of mud. Siapa mau, ambik la (Whoever wants the jersey, can take it). Whoever wants to clean it up.
I am lazy you know. I don't wash (my jerseys), so I am one of the laziest player, I would say.
I can't be bothered, even until today. I feel a player (can) do anything they like. As far as I'm concerned, if tomorrow you cannot perform then I'll (deal with) you.
PEOPLE ASKED, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? What are you looking forward to? Bonus? There is no such thing as bonus man.
Of course everybody talks about money, its not that we don't want the money, but the (football) association doesn't have the money. So in another words, I have to say what was on our mind is to only play football.
WHAT WAS IN MY MIND THE FIRST TIME I PLAYED for national team, the first time for the youth team, was the chance to travel overseas. It is not easy you know to go in a plane, to go to Bangkok.
The first time, (I felt like) wah, aeroplane man. So that was my motivation. I wanted to go travelling overseas and all that. Other than that I mean of course you win you get some money, like when you qualify for the Olympic game. Easily you get a million now man (but back then) you get RM500, which was big at that time.
CHINESE PARENTS, i think (don't let their children play football today) because of education.
Especially when they go to secondary school, they stop their children from all this activities and all that because of education.
YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE GAME, NOT BLINDLY CONDEMN PLAYERS. Sometimes the field is horrible you see, especially in Malaysia.
You look at England where they bring their children to the park, (they have) nice fields where they play football.
Here you can't even walk in the field so how can you play football on the field? When you walk on the field you'll sprain your ankle.
So what is important is, you need to have facilities, that's what is important if you want to come up in future. That's very important.
