OBITUARY | Muthuveeran Chandran, 77, who died today at his home in Ampang after a long illness was Malaysia's most accomplished footballer.

He was a member of the national team that won the Merdeka Tournament in 1968, captained the side that qualified for the 1972 Munich Olympics, and wore the skipper's armband in a bronze medal-winning effort at the 1974 Tehran Asian Games.

The trifecta of honours solidified his stature as Malaysia's most accomplished footballer.

Striker Mokhtar Dahari, who died in 1989, was more famous; centre back Soh Chin Aun was more skilful, and goalkeeper Chow Chee Keong (who passed away in 2017) was rated world-class by no less than Pele whose Cosmos team came up against Chee Keong in an exhibition match in Hong Kong in the late 1970s.

Centre back Chandran was not as renowned as the aforementioned three but he was more illustrious simply from having gained the unique trifecta in a 10-year span (1964-74) of an international career that was notable in being relatively free of injury and controversy.

He was the preferred choice for team captain at the 1968 Merdeka Tournament, which Malaysia won after a lean spell in what was then the premier Asian tournament, but Abdullah Nordin was given the honours because the tournament was the fullback's swansong.

Deference and not a little discretion endeared the player to managers and coaches who regarded him as uncomplaining and trusty.

Born in 1942 in Sungei Siput where his father was an engine driver, Chandran made his name in Selangor at youth level after his dad was transferred by Malayan railway to Kuala Lumpur.

Self-effacing ways

The railway quarters where he stayed in Jalan Travers was in close proximity to football training hubs in Brickfields, hatcheries of the soccer talent that rose to state and national prominence.

Most prominent among this lot was striker N Thanabalan who starred in the 1968 Merdeka event.

Chandran made the Selangor combined schools team, then the national youth team and, at the age of 20, the Selangor Malaya Cup squad where the first 11 was virtually the national team.

Chandran's self-effacing ways were well-honed in a two-year stay among the Selangor reserves whose induction rites included cleaning the first team players' boots.

An injury in the 1964 season to Selangor and national skipper Edwin Dutton saw Chandran deputise in his stead which meant he verged on national selection.

Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia the following year eased Chandran's entry into the national first 11 as players from across the Causeway were no longer rivals for Malaysian selection.

Chandran made the most of the breaks that came his way to power Selangor and Malaysia in domestic and foreign competitions between 1964 and 1974.

All this was accomplished while he held down a clerk's job in Chartered Bank.

Rare feel

Attendance at training had to be combined with work at the bank, no easy task when national team training entailed dual sessions, one in the early part of the morning and the other in the evening.

Dedication to training and dependability in central defence sped Chandran to a close relationship with Selangor state and national team manager Harun Idris, an Umno leader with a rare feel for football team management.

The rapport between manager and player was integral to the national team's success in the Merdeka Tournament in 1968 and the qualification for the Munich Olympics in 1972.

Malaysia's first-ever qualification for the Olympics (we qualified for 1980 Moscow Olympics but didn't go because of a boycott over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan) was a lustrous achievement.

The 36-km open car ride for Chandran from Subang Airport to Harun's menteri besar residence in Jalan Raja Muda in Kuala Lumpur on the national team's return from the Olympic qualifier in Seoul in September 1971 was an indelible moment for the skipper.

“It was like I was walking on air,” recalled Chandran, decades after the experience which saw ecstatic crowds, several lines deep, lining the route to cheer the conquering captain.

The skipper knew when to bow out.

After leading Malaysia to the bronze medal at the 1974 Tehran Asian Games, Chandran called it a day as an international.

Brief stint

Though he went on to coach Selangor to Malaysia Cup honours and had a brief stint as national team coach, Chandran's playing career was unparalleled in the honours gained on the international front.

These were achieved in the days when high performers played more for pride than payment. After a long period of collaboration with Harun, the latter once surprised Chandran with this query: “Hey, you not asking me for anything?”

“You have already given me a house,” answered Chandran.

In 1971, upon Chandran mentioning to Harun that his service with the bank now qualified him for a loan of RM40,000, the manager promptly signed a letter to the Selangor State Development Corporation, requesting the agency to allocate a house in a new scheme in Ampang.

One had to be married to qualify for the privilege. Harun's letter cleared that hurdle for the then unmarried Chandran who passed away at the same residence this morning, surrounded by his wife and two sons.

Harun certainly didn't think that the house for which Chandran paid up in full was not that big a favour for the service the player-cum-coach rendered both state and country.

But Chandran felt differently.