Hardi Jaafar

Mohammad Hardi Jaafar (born 30 May 1979) is a Malaysian footballer who is a midfielder. Hardi Jaafar is known for his shooting techniques, contributing many long shot goals and being a set piece taker. He is a former member of the Malaysia national football team.

Mohammad Hardi Jaafar
Personal information
Date of birth (1979-05-30) 30 May 1979
Place of birth Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 MOF F.C.
Number 10
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2003 Melaka Telekom 72 (9)
2004 Selangor FA 21 (3)
2005–2007 Melaka Telekom 41 (10)
2007–2008 Perak FA 30 (2)
2009–2011 Selangor FA 53 (11)
2012–2014 Felda United FC 12 (2)
2014–2016 Perak FA 12 (1)
2016 MOF F.C. 0 (0)
National team‡
2006 Malaysia U-23 3 (2)
2008 Malaysia[1] 5 (1)
2006–2009 Malaysia 29 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of December 31, 2015
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of December 31, 2015

Career

He was the captain of the Melaka Telekom team prior to their withdrawal from the Malaysia Super League competition. He then agreed to join his home team, Perak FA, for the 2007/08 season. He helped Perak to reach the quarterfinal of the AFC Cup.

With Malaysia, Hardi was given his first ever international caps against New Zealand on 19 February 2006. His impressive playing style and creative performances led to him being one of the three senior players chosen by Norizan Bakar for the 2006 Doha Asian Games.

Hardi made his first appearance in the Asian Games by scoring a goal against the Oman under-23. He then scored a goal against China under-23 in the second match. However Malaysia finished bottom of the group after losing all three matches, 1–3 against Oman under-23, 1–3 against China under-23, and 0–4 to eventual silver medalist Iraq under-23.

After the Asian Games, Hardi was selected for the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship. He started in all of the matches in the tournament. He made his first international goal in the semifinal against Singapore. However Malaysia eventually lost to Singapore in the penalty shootout after drawing the second game in Singapore.

He also was chosen to be on the national team for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, where he played in all of Malaysia's matches. In this tournament, Malaysia were beaten by China in the opening game 1–5, won 5–0 against Uzbekistan, then lost to quarterfinalist Iran 0–2.

Hardi also represented the Malaysia XI (Malaysia B) squad against Chelsea F.C. at Shah Alam Stadium on 29 July 2008. The Malaysia XI eventually lost 0–2. However, Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari praised the Malaysia XI for giving a good fight against his team.

For the 2009 Malaysia League, Hardi left Perak FA and returned to his former team, Selangor FA.[2] He made his second debut with Selangor in the match against Kedah, which Selangor won 4–1.

He spent the 2012 season playing for Felda United FC. In 2013, he did not play for any club due to injury. He made a comeback in 2014 to join his former club Perak FA.

Achievements

International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.23 January 2007Shah Alam, Malaysia Singapore1–1Draw2007 ASEAN Football Championship
2.24 March 2007Colombo, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka1–4WonFriendly
3.26 March 2007Colombo, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka2–1LostFriendly
4.29 November 2008Kelana Jaya, Malaysia Singapore2–2DrawFriendly

References
  1. Appearances and goals for non FIFA 'A' matches.
  2. Penampilan sulung Hardi Archived 4 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine (in Malay)
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