Ahmad Fauzi Saari (born 30 April 1982), is a Malaysian professional football player who last plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Malaysia Super League 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 Malays ...

side

Perlis FA Perlis FA State Football Team ( ms, Pasukan Bola Sepak Negeri Perlis), also known as Perlis FA, is a football team based in Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia which is run and managed by the Perlis Football Association (PFA). The team was founded in 1963 ...

Early life

Ahmad Fauzi Saari grew up in Ladang Anak Kulim, where his father was a supervisor ( ms, mandor) and her mother used to ease their financial burden by tapping rubber there. He started playing football since he was a schoolboy, often with his multi-racial friends at the estate. In age of 16, his non-stop running style and talent in football was then discovered by teachers at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Serdang (a secondary school in Serdang, Kedah).

Club career

Early career

There was no stopping Fauzi, or known as Pak Long among his

Kedah FA Kedah Darul Aman Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bola Sepak Kedah Darul Aman) is a football club based in Alor Setar, Kedah, that competes in the Malaysia Super League. They are the only team in the history of Malaysian football to have won two tr ...

teammates and fans. In 2002, he was selected for the

Sukma Games The Sukma Games ( ms, Sukan Malaysia, lit.: Malaysian Games) is a biennial national multi-sport event involving young athletes from Malaysian 13 member states and the Federal territory. The games is regulated by the National Sports Council of M ...

to represent the

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area ...

state.

Kedah FA

His game is valued highly by the

management who have placed their trust on him to stoke the engine room starting from 2004 season. He has been playing an important role in Kedah's good run in season 2006/07 and has scored some important goals for the club, mainly from long range. And sometimes, Fauzi was given the captain's armband whilst Victor Andrag and

Cornelius Huggins Cornelius Bernard Huggins, (born June 1, 1974), also known as Outlaw between fans, is a footballer from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines formerly playing as a centre back and a vice-captain for Kedah FA in the Malaysian Super League. Career His ...

were out from the team. He also a part of the squad that won historical double treble titles.

National team

In 2004, his ability to cover acres of space, no doubt due to his running around during his estate days, was discovered by

Allan Harris Allan Harris (28 December 1942 – 23 November 2017) was a footballer who played for Chelsea, Coventry City and Queens Park Rangers. His brother Ron was also a professional footballer. Harris was a full-back and began his career with Chelsea ...

. The Englishman, who helmed the

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

from 2000 to 2004, quickly roped him in as an all-action man for the pre-Olympic campaign. Fauzi played in one match – in the 4–1 defeat to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

on 3 March 2004. It was an unforgettable moment for the slightly-built player, because he remembered being outplayed by the physically superior Iranians. That remains to this day Fauzi's only appearance in the national jersey. That has not dampened his spirits. He recalled his first cap for Malaysia during an interview in 2006: During 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 ...

campaign, Fauzi was called by head coach

Norizan Bakar Norizan bin Bakar (born 27 January 1961 in Kampung Datuk Kaya Man, Perlis) is a former Malaysian football player. He currently the Director of Football for Felcra F.C. Club career Norizan played for his home state Perlis in semi-pro league f ...

to represent the country. Although he was part of the squad that thrash by China, Uzbekistan and Iran, he was not selected to play any single match on the tournament.

Honours

Kedah

: 2006/07, 2007/08 ** Runner-up: 2003 *

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

: 2002, 2005/06 ** Runner-up: 2005 *

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 ...

: 2006/07, 2007/08 *

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 ...

: 2006/07, 2007/08 ** Runner-up: 2004

References

1982 births Living people Malaysian men's footballers Malaysia men's international footballers 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Kedah Darul Aman F.C. players Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. players FELDA United F.C. players Armed Forces F.C. players Perlis F.A. players Negeri Sembilan FC players Malaysia Super League players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Kedah Malaysian people of Malay descent {{Malaysia-footy-bio-stub