Ahmad Fakri bin Saarani (born 8 July 1989) is a former Malaysian professional footballer who plays for

Liga M3 The Malaysia M3 League ( ms, Liga M3 Malaysia) is the third level football league of the Malaysian football league system. It operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Malaysia Premier League and the Malaysia M4 League.http://j ...

side BRM FC and the Malaysia national team. Fakri plays mainly as a right winger but can also play as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

or as an attacking midfielder. Fakri has earned 30 caps for the Malaysia national team since making his international debut on 12 August 2009 at the age of 19.

Club career

Perak, Harimau Muda

Fakri was born in Kota Bharu, in the state of Kelantan he has been raised in

Batu Gajah Batu Gajah (population 133,422) is a municipality in Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia. It is the capital of Kinta District. Etymology The name ''Batu Gajah'' in Malay means "elephant rock", it is presumably derived from two large boulders (''b ...

Perak Perak () is a 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, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

. He started his professional career with

when he signed a three-year contract from 2007 until 2009. At the beginning, Fakri is a natural right winger but also can play as a

. He played for Perak youth team during his season debut. Fakri was promoted to Perak first team as the senior striker,

R. Surendran R. Surendren (born on 26 October 1982) in Taiping, Perak is a Malaysia footballer. He is a former member of the Malaysian national team. He has more than 20 years of experience in football industry with a coaching certificate of AFC ‘C’ ...

was away for national duty with the Malaysia national team on a playing tour of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It was

Steve Darby Stephen David Darby (born 15 January 1955) is an English football coach and former player. He is well known throughout Asia as a pundit for ESPN Star Sports. Playing career Darby started out as a goalkeeper for Liverpool Schools and FA Youth ...

the former Perak coach who brought him into senior team. On 24 March 2007, Fakri made his

Liga Super The Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia) is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known as the Malaysi ...

debut for Perak's first team in the 5–1 win against

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...

. He scored a hat-trick and made one assist during that match. On the following season, Fakri signed a one-year contract to play with

Harimau Muda Harimau Muda is a former Malaysia national under-22 football team. The squad is the feeder team for senior national football team. The club is managed by the Football Association of Malaysia. After winning the Premier League in 2009, the cl ...

in 2007–08 Liga Premier. He made 24 appearances and scored 9 goals for the club.

Perlis, Negeri Sembilan, Felda United

After two seasons playing for Perlis, in December 2010, Fakri signed a contract with

. In 2012, Fakri named as the Felda United new player.

Atlético SC

On 8 December 2012, it was confirmed that Fakri had signed a one-year contract with Terceira Divisão side Atlético SC

Kelantan

Fakri had returned to Malaysia and signed with Kelantan after his contract with Portuguese side Atlético SC ended. On 19 April 2013, Fakri scored his first league goal for Kelantan in 1–2 defeat to PKNS. On 31 August 2013, he scored his first

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual association football, football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popular ...

goal for Kelantan in 1–2 defeat to

. Fakri played as a substitute in the

2013 Malaysia Cup The 2013 Malaysia Cup (Malay: ''Piala Malaysia 2013'') was the 87th season of Malaysia Cup and began on 20 August with a preliminary round and finished on 3 November 2013 with the final, held at Shah Alam Stadium. A total of 16 teams took part in ...

final against Pahang.

Kedah

On 1 January 2016, Fakri signed a one-year contract with

2015 Malaysia Premier League The 2015 Liga Premier ( en, 2015 Premier League) was the 12th season of the Liga Premier, the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia.http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/malay2015.html 2015 Liga Premier The season was held from January an ...

champions Kedah. On 14 December 2016, after his loan stint with Felda United ended Fakri returned to Kedah and signed another one-year contract with Kedah.

Felda United (loan)

On 16 July 2016, Fakri was loaned to Felda United on 6-month deal.

Melaka United

On 24 November 2017, Fakri signed a one-year contract with

Melaka United Melaka United Football Club () was a defunct Malaysian professional football club based in Malacca that competes in the Malaysia Super League. They were owned by Kenteam Sdn Bhd which is one of nitrile glove producer in Malaysia. Previously, th ...

International career

Youth

Fakri is former Malaysia Under-20 member squad. He has participated in ASEAN Football Federation Youth Championship 2006 and ASEAN Football Federation Youth Championship 2007. He also play in 2007

Hassanal Bolkiah Hassanal Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien III ( Jawi: ; born 15 July 1946) is the 29th and current Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei since 1967 and the Prime Minister of Brunei since independence from the United Kingdom in 1984. He is one ...

Trophy A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, in ...

. In 2008, Fakri was seconded to

, a

Malaysian Premier League The Malaysia Premier League ( ms, Liga Premier) was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. The league replaced the former second-tier league, Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier Leagu ...

team made up of members of the Malaysian Under-20 national side.

Senior

Fakri made his senior debut in 0–0 draw against Kenya on 12 August 2009 coming off from the bench. In November 2010, Malaysia coach, K. Rajagobal called up Fakri for the

2010 AFF Suzuki Cup The 2010 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and P&G and officially known as the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup, was the 8th edition of the AFF Championship, took place on 1–29 December 2010. Indonesia and Vietnam hosted the group stage from 1 to 8 De ...

, but he was later ruled up by injury during the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), was a regional multi-sport event celebrated from November 12 to November 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, although several events ...

. He was later replaced by Ashari Samsudin. He was selected by Malaysia coach, K. Rajagobal for

2012 AFF Suzuki Cup The 2012 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and officially known as the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup, was the 9th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of Southeast Asia. It was co-hosted for group stage by Malaysia and Thailand a ...

campaign. However, he only came in as a substitute in Group B match against Indonesia.

Personal life

Fakri has a younger sister, Nur Haniza Saarani playing for the Malaysia women's football team.

Statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''As of match played 9 November 2017. Malaysia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Fakri goal.''

Honours

Club

Perak President Cup * Malaysia President Cup: 2006–07 Kelantan *

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before being transferred to Fo ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

; Runner-up

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

: Runner-up

Kedah *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

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

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

* Malaysian FA Cup:

International

Malaysia U-23 * 2009 SEA Games: Gold *

2011 SEA Games The 2011 Southeast Asian Games, ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia Tenggara 2011) officially known as the 26th Southeast Asian Games, or the 26th SEA Games, and commonly known as Jakarta-Palembang 2011, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held from ...

: Gold

References

External links

Ahmad Fakri Saarani
at SoccerPunter.com * * {{Melaka United squad 1989 births Living people People from Kedah Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian footballers People from Kota Bharu Perlis FA players Perak F.C. players Negeri Sembilan FA players Felda United F.C. players Atlético S.C. players Malaysia international footballers Malaysian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Malaysian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal People from Kelantan Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for Malaysia Southeast Asian Games medalists in football Association football wingers Association football forwards Competitors at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Malaysia 21st-century Malaysian people