Mohammad Hardi Jaafar (born 30 May 1979) is a Malaysian

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 ...

who is a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. 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 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 ...

Career

He was the captain of the Melaka Telekom team prior to their withdrawal from 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 ...

competition. He then agreed to join his home team,

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 ...

, for the 2007/08 season. He helped Perak to reach the quarterfinal of the

2008 AFC Cup The 2008 AFC Cup was the fifth edition of the AFC Cup, played by clubs from nations who are members of the Asian Football Confederation. Qualified teams 20 Football team, clubs competed, including champions of the :National association football ...

. 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 semi-final against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. 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 The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its h ...

, where he played in all of Malaysia's matches. In this tournament, Malaysia were beaten by

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in the opening game 1–5, won 5–0 against

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

, then lost to quarterfinalist

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

0–2. At the

2008 Merdeka Tournament The 40th Merdeka Tournament was played from 15 to 25 October 2008. The tournament was won by Vietnam, who defeated Malaysia 6-5 on penalties in the final. Teams * * * (host country) ** * * *** **** *''Mozambique replaced Kazakhstan followin ...

, Hardi helped Malaysia reach the final but his team lost against

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 ...

. Hardi also represented the Malaysia XI (Malaysia Selection) squad against

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, West London, England. The club was founded in 1905 and named after neighbouring area Chelsea. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, pl ...

Shah Alam Stadium The Shah Alam Stadium () was a multi-purpose stadium and one of the largest stadiums in the world located in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. It was used mostly for Association football, football matches but also had facilities for Sport of athle ...

on 29 July 2008. The Malaysia XI eventually lost 0–2. However, Chelsea manager

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player who currently serves as the technical director of Grêmio. Considered to be one of the greatest and most su ...

praised the Malaysia XI for giving a good fight against his team. For the 2009 Malaysia League, Hardi left

and returned to his former team, Selangor FA.Penampilan sulung Hardi
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

International goals

Honours

TM FC *

: Runners-up 2005–06 Selangor *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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 ...

* Malaysia Charity Shield: 2009 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 ...

: 2008 runner up

References

External links

* 2007 ASEAN Football Championship
Player profile – doha-2006.com
* * {{Malaysia Squad 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1979 births Living people Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian men's footballers 21st-century Malaysian sportsmen Malaysia men's international footballers 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers from Ipoh TM F.C. players Perak F.C. players Selangor F.C. players FELDA United F.C. players MOF F.C. players Malaysia Super League players Men's association football defenders Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games footballers for Malaysia