IT was way past midnight when the familiar figure emerged from the bowels of the PJ Stadium to hand me an autographed c opy of his biography.Singapore’s favourite son Fandi Ahmad was most obliging when I texted him early this year on the possibility of shedding light on his book.
The rare opportunity came up when Pahang travelled to Kuala Lumpur to play Police on Wednesday night.
Several years his junior, I first stood starstruck as Fandi and his Pahang teammates were celebrating the 1-0 victory over Kedah in the Malaysia Cup final in November 1992.
As a reporter attached to Berita Harian’s weekly sports pull-out called Jaguh, I was lost in Pahang’s sea of joy as the team lifted the Cup before a crowd of 45,000 at the Merdeka Stadium.
Picture the Dream Team of 1992 that featured Alan Davidson as the elegant sweeper, Ahmad Yusof as the box-to-box midfielder, Dollah Salleh’s left footed excursions, Mubin Mokhtar’s free-kicks, Zainal Abidin Hassan’s marauding runs and Fandi’s exquisite touch.
Today as Pahang’s younger set of fans yearn for the days of Dickson Nwakeme’s ball control and Matias Conti’s finishings, Pahang’s 2023 version pales in comparison.
The 2-1 win over Police, nonetheless, was crucial for Fandi, who returned to Pahang as the technical director last year before replacing Dollah as coach this season.
His second biography is called Fandi: Honour & Sacrifice, which was launched on his 60th birthday on May 29, last year. The undertaking of producing the 472-page book took four years for Fandi and his team to complete.
His first biography, released in August 1993, was written by Singapore’s renowned journalist Wilfred Yeo.
In the 162-page book titled the Fandi Ahmad story, Fandi revealed the intimate secrets of his life, ranging from a broken love affair to the days he had to sell nasi lemak to supplement his family’s income.
Even before the book was officially launched, it sold like hot cakes ahead of the Singapore-Selangor semi-pro league encounter at the National Stadium 30 years ago.
Fandi was the first Singapore sportsman to have his biography written, ahead of the likes of sprinter Kunalan Canagasabai, weightlifter Tan Howe Liang, and swimmers Ang Peng Siong and Patricia Chan.
In our short conversation while waiting for the team to board the bus, Fandi offered precious pearls of wisdom, accumulated throughout his footballing journey that has taken him to Holland, Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, Kuantan, Johor Baru and back to Kuantan.
“The content of this book is more comprehensive than the first one,” said Fandi.
Much like the way he pushes his off-springs Irfan and Ikhsan to broaden their horizons, Fandi has urged Malaysia’s best talent to leave the nest and ply their trade overseas.
“It will make you grow as a player, as a person. It will toughen you up physically and mentally.”
He admires R. Kogileswaran’s courage in making the foray into the Korean League with Cheongbuk Cheongju.
“Playing in an aggressive environment will reinforce his composure. It’s good that he has shed some weight. The challenge is for Kogi to learn as much as possible and be the agent of change once he comes back.”
Fandi certainly did just that on his arrival at Federal Territory, now Kuala Lumpur, in 1985 after sojourns in Niac Mitra and Groningen.
“I told Dr (Jozef) Venglos the team lacked the discipline to succeed. We had to make certain adjustments to our training regime. I told him we had to cultivate a new culture for the team.”
As someone who had trained alongside Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Jan Molby, Fandi remains the perfect role model for any aspiring footballer.
Malaysian players, irrespective of affiliation, must tap into his experience and take a leaf out of Fandi’s book.
It would be a cardinal sin if we were to waste the precious moments with a legend who once rolled the ball past Walter Zenga and was affectionately nicknamed “Brownie” by Cruyff.
