Back in 1975, Malaysian legend Mokhtar had scored a brace against the mighty Arsenal in a friendly match but little did he know that his feat would be repeated by another Malaysian in 2012. Eight years ago, Arsenal returned to these shores for the second straight year having already done one pre-season tour match in 2011 in Kuala Lumpur when they ran away comfortable 4-0 winners over Malaysia.
Arsenal had just finished the 2011/12 season in third place behind both Manchester clubs, City and United with Arsene Wenger facing a second straight summer of losing his club captain in Robin Van Persie after seeing Cesc Fabregas left the summer previous. Although interestingly enough, that match in 2012 contained Wenger's eventual replacement in Mikel Arteta.
Wenger's side clawed their way back into the game thanks to two late goals from Thomas Eisfeld and Chuks Aneke after Azmi had produced a thunderous opening goal for Malaysia in the first half. A goal that the then ATM player and now Pulau Pinang captain will always remember fondly by.
"To be honest, I did see the space opened up in front of me and I thought why not have a go. I had confidence in my shooting capabilities and perhaps I could force the keeper into a save. But I connected with the ball sweetly and it flew into the top corner. It was incredible to have been able to score against a top club.
"They never expected to concede to us and we can all see it in their response. They reacted angrily towards each other for allowing me space to shoot. It was amazing to see," Azmi recalled the moment to Goal.
That was a period where the Malaysia as a country was frequently graced by the presence of Premier League clubs for their pre-season friendlies but that Arsenal match represented what was the start of the end. Only three more teams from England came here to play since then in City, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.
While for most of the fixtures, the stadium was sold to the brim - games such as these were not taken kindly by sections of the local fans who thought that those games should have been played using a Malaysia Super League XI instead of the national team.
A perspective which Azmi completely understands and accepts but at the same time, remained glad that he was among those that had the chance to feature in those matches against players whom they would normally only see on television or on the internet.
"It was a golden opportunity for me to be chosen to be in the squad to face both Arsenal and Manchester City. It's a privilege for me to be able to play against two prestigious names that have won the Premier League titles before. It's not something that happened often to players from this region and in that sense, I felt really lucky.
"It's an unforgettable moment for me. Yes, there are a lot of other big memories in my career as a professional from competitive matches for my club side as well as for the national team but despite what some may think of games like these, it will always be a beautiful moment for me to cherish to be able to be part of those fixtures.
"We just took it as an experience to face such big clubs who do thing very differently to us and is in a different level to us. It's not an everyday opportunity to play against top players and even though it's only a friendly, there are many things which we can take away from playing in that game," added Azmi.
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August 09, 2020 at 12:59AM
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Scoring against Arsenal is definitely one to remember, says Azmi Muslim - Goal
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