The 40th

Merdeka Tournament Merdeka Tournament or Pestabola Merdeka is a friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. The competition bears the Malay word for independence. As of 2022, it has been held 40 times, and decreasingly in r ...

was played from 15 to 25 October 2008. The tournament was won by

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, who defeated

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

6-5 on penalties in the final.

Teams

* * * (host country) *^* * * *^** *^*** ^*''

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

replaced

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

following Kazakhstan’s failure to confirm participation.

will play with their Under 20 squad.'' ^**''Sierra Leone will be sending their Under 20 squad.'' ^***''Vietnam will be sending their Under 22 squad.''

Stadiums

^*Venue for last group match change because of the poor pitch condition at the

MBPJ Stadium The Petaling Jaya Stadium, also known as the MBPJ Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Kelana Jaya in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. The stadium was opened in 1996 and has a capacity of 25,000. It was built in time for the 1998 ...

.Malaysia demolish young Sierra Leone side to sail into the semis
Thestar 18 October 2008.

Group Stages

All times local (

UTC+8 UTC+08:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +08:00. With an estimated population of 1.708 billion living within the time zone, roughly 24% of the world population, it is the most populous time zone in the world, as well as a ...

)

Group A

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Group B

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Knockout stages

All times local (

)

Bracket

Semi-finals

----

Final

Winners

Goalscorers

;5 goals * Mohd Safee Mohd Sali ;4 goals *

Indra Putra Mahayuddin Indra Putra Bin Mahayuddin (born 2 September 1981) is a former Malaysian professional footballer. He is the all-time highest goalscorer of the Malaysia Super League. He is a versatile forward, who can operate as a striker or a winger. Clu ...

Phan Thanh Bình Phan Thanh Bình (born November 1, 1986) is a retired Vietnamese footballer who played as a striker. He was a member of the Vietnam national football team The Vietnam national football team ( vi, Đội tuyển bóng đá quốc gia Việt N ...

;3 goals * Dwight Foray ;2 goals *

Mohd Zaquan Adha Abdul Radzak Mohamad Zaquan Adha bin Abd. Radzak (born 3 August 1987) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Malaysia Super League club Negeri Sembilan and the Malaysia national team. He is the younger of a set of twins; his ...

* Mohd Ashaari Shamsuddin * Alusine Turay * Mohamed Kabia *

Hoàng Đình Tùng Hoàng Đình Tùng (born 24 August 1988 in Thanh Hóa) is a Vietnamese footballer who plays as a striker for Thanh Hóa FC. He represented Vietnam at the 2009 SEA Games. Honours Club Đông Á Thanh Hóa *Vietnamese National Cup: : Third ...

* Nguyễn Đức Thiện * Trịnh Quang Vinh *

Soe Myat Min U Soe Myat Min ( my, စိုးမြတ်မင်း, ; born 19 May 1982) is a former Burmese footballer. He played for the Myanmar national team and spent the majority of his club career at Kanbawza. Making his debut for the national t ...

;1 goals * Lahai Freeman * Lajor Bah * Sulaiman Kamara *

Amara Kamara Amara Kamara (born February 2, 1988) is a Liberian former gridiron football linebacker. After his family immigrated to the United States, he attended local schools in Newark, New Jersey, where he started playing American football. In 2006, he wa ...

Mohd Amirul Hadi Zainal Mohamad Amirul Hadi bin Zainal (born 27 May 1986) is a Malaysian former professional footballer who last plays for Malaysian club Johor Darul Ta'zim II and the Malaysian national team as a central midfielder. Born in Alor Gajah, Malacca but ...

Hairuddin Omar Hairuddin Bin Omar (born 29 September 1979) also known as Hai-O is a Malaysian former international football player. He spent most of his career as a forward but can also play as a midfielder. Club career Born and raised in Setiu, 70 kilometr ...

Mohd Nizaruddin Yusof Mohd Nizaruddin Yusof (born 10 November 1979) is a former Malaysian footballer who operates as a striker. He last played for Penjara FC in the Malaysia FAM League. He played for Malaysian national team and also has played for the Malaysia Un ...

* Mohd Khyril Muhymeen Zambri *

Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak Mohamad Aidil Zafuan bin Abd. Radzak (born 3 August 1987) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Malaysia Super League club Johor Darul Ta'zim. He is a former member of Malaysia U-23 and Malaysia U-20 squad. He ...

Hafizullah Qadami Hafizullah Qadami Ke madaresh zandst ( fa, حفیظ الله قدمی; born 20 February 1985) is an Afghan football player. He plays as a forward and has played football with Maiwand Kabul FC since 2003. Qadami is considered one of Afghanistan ...

Hashmatullah Barakzai Hashmatullah Barakzai ( ps, حشمت الله بارکزی, born August 26, 1987) is an Afghan football player who plays for Shaheen Asmayee F.C. in the Afghan Premier League. International goals Achievements Top Scorer of Kabul Premier Leag ...

* Sayed Bashir Azimi *

Jahid Hasan Ameli Zahid Hasan Ameli ( bn, জাহিদ হাসান এমিলি; born 25 December 1987) is a Bangladeshi footballer who plays as a striker for Brothers Union and the Bangladesh national team. He is the current second top scorer of the ...

* Zahid Hossain * Jumanu Rai *

Anil Gurung Anil Gurung ( ne, अनिल गुरुङ; born 17 September 1986) is a Nepali footballer who plays as a striker for Brigade Boys Club in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League. He took retirement from the national team duty after 2019 ...

Bijaya Gurung Bijaya Gurung ( ne, बिजय गुरुङ) is a Nepali team midfielder who currently plays for Three Star Club. Gurung was the last player in the national team from the first batch of ANFA Academy. He was considered one of the most skillfu ...

* Franciso Jange * Enio Saize * Mauricio Peguenino * Zaw Htet Aung * Min Thu *

Khin Maung Lwin Khin Maung Lwin ( my, ခင်မောင်လွင်; born 27 December 1988) is a Burmese footballer. He is the former captain of the Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA convent ...

Nguyễn Văn Khải Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merdeka

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2008 in Malaysian football 2008 in Afghan football 2008 in Burmese football 2008 in Nepalese sport 2008 in Sierra Leonean sport 2008 in Vietnamese football 2008 in Bangladeshi football mer Mer