Ahmad Shahrul Azhar Sofian (born 24 October 1974) is a Malaysian former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

best known for his time with

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

, where he was team captain and wore the number 7 jersey. He was a central midfielder.

Career

Shahrul spent almost his entire career with

Perak FA Perak Football Club (Perak FC) was a professional football team based in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. Founded in 1921, it was one of the oldest football clubs in the country and last competed in the Malaysia Super League. Formerly overseen by the P ...

. He made his debut in 1996 and remained with

until 2008 except in 1998 and 1999, where he joined

Negeri Sembilan FA Negeri Sembilan Football Club (), commonly referred to as Negeri Sembilan or simply NSFC, is a Malaysian professional football club based in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. The club competes in the top division of Malaysian football, the Malaysia ...

. He is a highly-influential player for

, but is perhaps more known for his fiery temperament than his footballing abilities. He was once banned 12 months for his antics against the fourth official after receiving a red card against

Selangor MPPJ Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya Football Club or Petaling Jaya Municipal Council Football Club, commonly known as MPPJ FC, was a Malaysian professional football club based in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The club's home ground was the 25,000 capaci ...

. Shahrul made his international senior debut at the 1999 Dunhill Cup in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. He also played in the

1999 Southeast Asian Games The 1999 SEA Games (), officially known as the 20th SEA Games and commonly known as Brunei Darussalam 1999, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. This was the first time Brunei hosted the Southeast Asian ...

where he scored a hat-trick against

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

. In 2000, Ahmad Shahrul was selected as the captain of the national team. On 25 May 2002, he was called up for an international friendly match against five times World Cup winners

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. He was selected as one of the first eleven to play against Brazilian stars such as

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, also prevalent in other Romance countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: Association footballe ...

and Barca's

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or left winger. Widely reg ...

. His last appearance with the national team is at the

2002 Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games, officially known as the XIV Asian Games and also known as Busan 2002 (), were an international multi-sport event held in Busan, South Korea from September 29 to October 14, 2002. Due to schedule impediments the football tour ...

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. He was also sent off in the 2007

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup (), formerly known as Malaya Cup, is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the country's oldest cup tournament, i ...

final for a second-bookable offence. Perak went on to lose that match 3-0. He played for

Proton FC Proton FC () was a team in the Malaysian Premier League football competition, sponsored by Malaysian national carmaker Proton. The team was based in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. They played in the second level in Malaysian football, the Malay ...

in the 2009

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League () was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. It replaced the Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier League was contested by 12 clubs. The season usually ra ...

, and retired at the end of the season. Previously Shahrul works as Assistant Coach of U20

. Currently he works as Manager of

International goals

Goals for Senior National Team

Personal life

His grandfather, Ahmad Nazari was also a football player and a part of the

Malaya national football team The Malaya national football team represented the Federation of Malaya during its existence from 1948 to 1963. The modern Malaysia national football team, active since the 1963 Merdeka Tournament, is considered its direct successor. Competiti ...

when it finished third in the

1962 Asian Games The 1962 Asian Games () also known as the 4th Asian Games, IV Asiad, and Jakarta 1962, were the fourth edition of pan-Asian multi-sport event sanctioned by the Asian Games Federation (AGF). The games were held from 24 August to 4 September 1962, ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Honours

Club

;Perak *

Malaysia Premier League 1 Liga Perdana 1 or Liga Perdana Satu () was the nation's top-tier professional football league in Malaysia that operated from 1998 to 2003. The league was formed and established in 1998 to succeed the Liga Perdana (1994–97) after FAM decision ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

: 2000 *

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup () is an annual association football, football competition in Malaysia, established in 1990. It was previously managed by the Football Association of Malaysia, before being transferred to the Football Malaysia LLP, Malaysian ...

: 2004 *

Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup The Malaysian Charity Shield (English: Charity Cup), also known as Piala Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah () or Piala Sumbangsih, is a Malaysian football super cup competition. It is the curtain raiser match to the new Malaysian football season, pittin ...

: 2005, 2006

International

;Malaysia *

Pestabola Merdeka Merdeka Tournament () is an international friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. It is mainly played at Independence Stadium, in Kuala Lumpur. "Merdeka" is the Malay word for independence. As of 202 ...

runner-up:

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Awards

Shahrul was honoured by the

state in 2005 along with his teammates Chan Wing Hoong,

K. Nanthakumar Nanthakumar Kaliappan (born 13 October 1977) or better known as K. Nanthakumar is a former Malaysian footballer where he played as a defensive midfielder. He was a member of the Malaysian national team from 2002 until 2010. Nanthakumar is a f ...

, Mohd Hamsani Ahmad and Syamsul Saad for their contributions to state football.

References

External links

*
Biodata Ahmad Shahrul Azhar

Friendlies 2001 » June » Malaysia - Bosnia-Herzegovina 2:2 - worldfootball.netMalaysia v Bosnia and Herzegovina, 25 June 2001 - 11v11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad Shahrul Azhar Sofian 1974 births Living people Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian men's footballers Malaysia men's international footballers Perak F.C. players Negeri Sembilan FC players Footballers from Ipoh Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Men's association football midfielders Asian Games footballers for Malaysia