Amirizdwan Taj Bin Tajuddin (born 30 March 1986), commonly known as Taj, is a

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

n former professional footballer who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

and capped by Malaysian national team. Born in

Kota Bharu Kota Bharu ( Kelantanese: ''Koto Baghu''), colloquially referred to as KB, is a town in Malaysia that serves as the state capital and royal seat of Kelantan. It is situated in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia and lies near the mout ...

Kelantan Kelantan (; Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate''; ) is a state in Malaysia. The capital, Kota Bharu, includes the royal seat of Kubang Kerian. The honorific, honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' ("The Blissful Abode"). ...

, Taj never seriously play football at his youth where he attended MRSM Gerik and later MRSM Kuala Terengganu. His football career began while completing his undergraduate studies at

Universiti Teknologi MARA The MARA Technological University ( Malay: ''Universiti Teknologi MARA''; Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي تيكنولوڬي مارا; abbr. UiTM) is a public university in Malaysia, based primarily in Shah Alam, Selangor. It was established to ...

where he played for

UiTM FC UiTM United Football Club is a Malaysian professional association football, football club based in Shah Alam, Selangor. The club currently plays in the Malaysia A2 Amateur League. Founded in 2008, their home ground is 10,000-seater UiTM Stadiu ...

. During that time, Taj was commonly known by nickname ''Panjang'' which means tall in English, to describe his tall physic body compared to his other teammates. Taj was a late bloomer which was not from regular state President Cup or youth teams.

Club career

UITM

Amirizdwan further his study at Universiti Teknologi MARA in Sport Science. He then join

UiTM The MARA Technological University ( Malay: ''Universiti Teknologi MARA''; Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي تيكنولوڬي مارا; abbr. UiTM) is a public university in Malaysia, based primarily in Shah Alam, Selangor. It was established to hel ...

football team to play for IPT League. His series of good performance caught the eye of several coach from other club and one of them was former coach of

, B. Sathianathan in a friendly between UiTM Fc and Kelantan. When B. Sathianathan appointed as ATM, he signs Amirizdwan. Amirizdwan joined ATM at the start of the year after three seasons with UiTM and immediately tasted success after helping his side winning the

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 gain promotion to the

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional Football in Malaysia, football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnersh ...

. He also won

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 ...

in 2013 with ATM. Amirizdwan was a complete and versatile player; he was gifted with excellent technical ability, vision and passing range. He was also a strong, tall, tenacious, influential, hardworking, and physical player. He has played much of his career as a centre defender, but has also been used as a

holding midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

at early of his career. He represented Malaysia in

2011 Summer Universiade The 2011 Summer Universiade ( zh, c=2011年夏季世界大学生运动会, labels=no), also known as the XXVI Summer Universiade ( zh, c=, s=第二十六届夏季世界大学生运动会, labels=no) and Shenzhen 2011, was hosted in Shenzhen, Gua ...

alongside K. Reuben. Malaysia finished 12th in the tournament. Amirizdwan made his international debut for

Malaysia national football team The Malaysia national football team () represents Malaysia in international association football, football and is governed by the Football Association of Malaysia. The national team is recognised by FIFA as the successor of the defunct Malaya ...

in 2011 at the age of 25. He was called up to the national squad just before he made the move, but as soon as he started helping the Armed Forces dominate the Premier League in 2012, his regular inclusion in the national set-up was a no-brainer. Despite play for Harimau Malaya occasionally, he never gets a chance to play for big tournament due to injuries and being overlooked by the coach.

ATM FA

In 2012, Amirizdwan joined ATM and was given squad number 24. He helped his side in winning the

2012 Malaysia Premier League The 2012 Liga Premier (), also known as the Astro Liga Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the ninth season of the Liga Premier, the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia.

, and promotion to the

for 2013 season. At the start of his ATM's career, Amirizdwan usually used as a midfielder but later switch his position to central defender.

2015 season

In April, they removed B. Sathianathan from the head coach position, sparking an exodus of players. Amirizdwan finally decided to end ties with ATM and return to his home state. A fresh start, was what he was ultimately craving for.

Kelantan FA

Amirizdwan signed with Kelantan FA in April 2015, The signing was announced on the Red Warriors' social media accounts, which also added that the Kota Bharu-born former

player would be wearing number 42 on his kit for the remainder of 2015 season. Amirizdwan has been linked with home state team for the past few years, after his rise from university-level football. He scored his first goal for Kelantan with a header against

Sime Darby FC Sime Darby Football Club is a Malaysian football club which was backed by the Sime Darby Berhad, one of Malaysia's largest conglomerates. The team has some pedigree having won the FAM Cup twice, the most recent being the 2017 Malaysia FAM Le ...

which ended 2-2 that night. At the time that the Red Warriors were undergoing a severe financial crisis Amirizdwan's departure was widely discussed.

Terengganu FA

Despite interest from other clubs, Amirizdwan signed with

Terengganu FA Terengganu Football Club is a professional football club based in Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia, that competes in the Malaysia Super League, the first division of Malaysian football league system. The club had won major trophies in Mal ...

on 2 December 2015. He will be given number 3 in the squad. A few weeks ago though, speculations of his departure became rife, with Kelantan's well-documented financial issues dominating the narrative. Amir though after signing his contract with the Turtles yesterday claims that his departure was ultimately fueled by other reasons. Amir was released by Terengganu without making any appearance after just 6 month signed for the club. The former UiTM, ATM and Kelantan player has always grappled with long-term injuries.

PKNS FC

Amir signed for

PKNS FC Selangor Football Club Under 23 ( Malay: ''Kelab Bola Sepak Selangor Bawah 23''), commonly referred to as Selangor U-23 (sometimes known as ''Selangor F.C. II''), is a feeder club for Selangor, based in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. The clu ...

for 2017 season.

International career

In October 2011, he was called up by K. Rajagobal for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

's training session for an international friendly against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Managerial career

On 1 February 2021, he was hired to became assistant coach for Mokhtar Dahari Academy to aid producing quality young players from the grassroots development program.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;ATM FA *

: 2012 *

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 ...

: runner-up

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

: 2013 ;Kelantan FA *

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 ...

: runner-up

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

;Kelantan United F.C. *

Malaysia M3 League The Malaysia A1 Semi-Pro League (, previously known as the Malaysia M3 League and the MBSB Bank Championship due to sponsorship reasons) is the second level football league of the Malaysian football league system.http://johorsoutherntigers.com ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Personal life

Amirizdwan is a

supporter. He married longtime girlfriend Anna Syahida Tamsir when they were student at UITM Shah Alam. He also an excellent student during his school days when he enrolled in Mara junior college. He also has siblings that played football professionally, amir ikhwan taj played for uitm fc, amir izham taj for felda utd u21. Amir himself admired that he's not planned to play football professionally. He never involved in any football pyramid like others do. He didn't went to youth academy, neither sport school. But during his college years where he just play for his residential college for inter-college games, a coach spotted him and called him to be trained with UiTM Fc. That seems to be cinderella story for him when coach B.Sathianathan whom are head coach for Kelantan that season offered his to play in Malaysia Cup campaign but that deal seems impossible when rules only applicable to those who are played with super league or premier league team that failed to qualified for that competition since Uitm Fc are in FAM League. 2011 is a breakthrough year for him when he selected in national team friendly match with India. Maybe the only player from FAM league and only UiTM Fc player being able to do so.

References

External links

Official Facebook ProfileOfficial Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taj, Amirizdwan 1986 births Living people MARA Junior Science College alumni Malaysian men's footballers Malaysia men's international footballers Malaysia Super League players Men's association football central defenders Footballers from Kota Bharu UiTM United players 21st-century Malaysian sportsmen Armed Forces F.C. players Kelantan F.C. players Terengganu FC players Selangor F.C. Under-23 players