KUALA LUMPUR (30 Nov 2011) – Malaysian striker Norshahrul Idlan Talaha picked up his second Most Valuable Player award in two years at the 100PLUS-Astro-FAM national Football Awards 2011 that was held this afternoon in Kuala Lumpur.
What made the win even more significant is the fact that from this year onwards, the Most Valuable Player award has been renamed after Malaysia great Mokhtar Dahari where it is now known as the SuperMokh award.
And just like last year, Norshahrul also won the Best Striker award.
“It is definitely a great, great honour to have won the first ever SuperMokh award,” said the 25-year-old lad, who was born in Besut, Terengganu.
“As a striker from Malaysia, you always look up to player like Mokhtar Dahari and the impact that he has made to the game with his quality. I believe that in the Malaysian football fraternity, how good you are as a striker will always be compared to how Mokhtar was.
“And since I’m a striker, this win is even more significant. I have to compliment 100PLUS and the FAM for coming up with this award ceremony.”
The 100PLUS-Astro-FAM national Football Awards 2011 was attended by Tan Sri Annuar Musa, the deputy president of the FA of Malaysia, Dato’ Ng Jui Sia, the chief executive officer of F&N Holdings Bhd and Darren Althofer, the general manager of Astro Arena among others.
“The annual National Football Awards is a chance for all us involved in the game to recognise the efforts of the players who served their teams so well throughout the season. It has indeed been a long and tough football season, but it was also a remarkable one,” added Dato’ Ng, who also commended the Malaysia Under-23 team for successfully defending the SEA Games gold medal in Jakarta.
“This year’s award has a new partner in Astro Arena. I would like to thank them for their support and we look forward to future collaborations with them.”
The Best Goalkeeper award was picked up by Khairul Fahm Che Mat for two years in a row while the Best Defender award went to Norhafiz Zamani Misbah, who denied team-mate Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak, a hat-trick of titles.
Selangor’s Safiq Rahim was selected as the Best Midfielder while Irfan Bakti Salim’s win of the FA Cup this year with Terengganu was enough for him to win the Best Coach award.
“I’m looking forward to my new post as the chief coach of Selangor although I must say that I would not have won today had it not been for my previous team and for that I’m grateful,” added Irfan.
Wan Zack Haikal Wan Noor of Harimau Muda ‘A’ was chosen as the Most Promising Player for 2011.
For this year, all the Super League and Premier League head coaches voted for the personality they felt were the best candidates for the various categories. The list of nominees was revealed this week after all the votes for the various categories were tabulated and finalised.
The award for the Best Football Association went to the FA of Selangor while PKNS Selangor picked up the award for the Best Club.
Both awards were decided by the FAM Competitions Committee.
100PLUS-ASTRO ARENA-FAM NATIONAL FOOTBALL AWARDS 2011
LIST OF WINNERS
BEST GOALKEEPER
- Khairul Fahmi Che Mat (KELANTAN)
BEST DEFENDER
- Norhafiz Zamani Misbah (NEGERI SEMBILAN)
BEST MIDFIELDER
- Safiq Rahim (SELANGOR)
BEST STRIKER
- Norshahrul Idlan Talaha (KELANTAN)
BEST COACH
- Irfan Bakti Abu Salim (TERENGGANU)
MOST PROMISING PLAYER
- Wan Zack Haikal Wan Noor (HARIMAU MUDA A)
SUPERMOKH AWARD for MOST VAUABLE PLAYER
- Norshahrul Idlan Talaha (KELANTAN)
BEST FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
- FA of Selangor
BEST CLUB
- PKNS SELANGOR
