Akmal Rizal Bin Ahmad Rakhli (born 12 December 1981) is a former Malaysian professional footballer who played 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 ...

. He is well known for his finishing ability and good technique. Apart from that, he is one of the batch of Malaysians to play overseas. He is the current head coach of Penang (U-21).

Club career

Early career

A product of the Kedah youth academy (Kedah Piala President), Akmal with pacy and skilful talent, made his way going abroad to join

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a French association football club founded in 1906, based in the c ...

. He made his debut for the RC Strasbourg Academy U-21 which ended in a 3-1 win against FC Köln II and he successfully scored 2 goals in that friendly match. In 2000, to aid his development, the then 19-year-old forward joined FCSR Haguenau on loan. He had scoring 11 goals in 22 games and won

Championnat de France amateur 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

. On 20 May 2000, during

tour to Malaysia, Akmal and

Peguy Luyindula Guy Luyindula Makanda (born 25 May 1979), known as Peguy Luyindula, is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Early career Luyindula began his career at Niort joining at the age of 18. In his first professi ...

helped Strasbourg beat

GNK Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

2-0 in friendly match at the Shah Alam Stadium. He also attracted the attention of former Mainz manager, Jürgen Klopp to signing him for Mainz before he returned to Malaysia and joined Kedah FA.

Kedah FA

In 2002, he return back from abroad and played for his former youth academy team in senior squad. Later, he won

2002 Liga Perdana 2 The 2002 Liga Perdana 2 season is the fifth season of Liga Perdana 2. A total of 12 teams participated in the season.http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/malay02.html 2002 Liga Perdana 2 Johor was relegated from Liga Perdana 1 to join the Liga Perdana 2. ...

. In

2003 Liga Perdana 1 The 2003 Liga Perdana 1 season is the sixth and final season of Liga Perdana 1. A total of 13 teams participated in the season out of 14 as NS Chempaka FC withdrew from the league.http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/malay03.html 2003 Liga Perdana 1 Th ...

, he scoring 10 goals in 24 games and becoming runner-up with the team at the end of the season.

Selangor FA

He then played for selangor starting season

2006–07 Malaysia Super League The 2006–07 Liga Super ( en, 2006–07 Super League) also known as the TM Liga Super for sponsorship reasons is the fourth season of the Liga Super, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/malay07.htm ...

Kuala Muda Naza FC

2009 Malaysia Super League The 2009 Liga Super ( en, 2009 Super League) also known as the TM Liga Super for sponsorship reasons is the sixth season of the Liga Super, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/malay09.html 2009 Liga ...

, he joined new promoted club, Kuala Muda Naza.

Kelantan FA

On 12 January 2010, he scored his first goal for Kelantan in a 3-0 win against

Johor FA Johor Darul Ta'zim Football Club II (; ms, Kelab Bolasepak Johor Darul Ta'zim II) or simply JDT II is a Malaysian football club based in Johor Bahru, Johor. The club currently plays in the Malaysia Premier League, the second division profess ...

and also becoming runner-up in the league at the end of the season. Later, he finally won 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 ...

in 2010 Malaysia Cup Final after kelantan beating Negeri Sembilan FA 2-1.

Perak FA

After leaving Kelantan FA, He then joined Perak and reunited with his former national team head coach, Norizan Bakar.

Kedah FA

He made his second debut (first debut in 2002) on 7 January 2013, appearing as a substitute in a 1–0 win against UiTM F.C., and made his full first start for the club in the game against DRB-Hicom Pos Malaysia FC. On 8 March 2013, he scored his first goal for Kedah FA in the 62nd minute against Kuala Lumpur FA. He made 16 appearances with Kedah FA before he agreed to join Sarawak FA for

2014 Malaysia Super League The 2014 Liga Super ( en, 2014 Super League) also known as the Astro Liga Super for sponsorship reasons is the 11th season of the Liga Super, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/malay2014.html 2014 L ...

season.

Sarawak FA

On 10 November 2013, Akmal Rizal has officially signed a one-year contract with Sarawak FA after being released by Kedah FA.

Kedah United F.C.

In 2015, Akmal Rizal played with

Kedah United F.C. Kedah United FC is a Malaysian football team based in the city of Alor Setar representing the state of Kedah, Malaysia. Newly founded in 2012, the team were registered under the name of the Kedah Malays Football Association (KMFA) ( ms, Persatu ...

2015 Malaysia FAM League The 2015 Malaysia FAM League (referred to as the FAM League) is the 63rd season of the FAM League since its establishment in 1952. The league is currently the third level football league in Malaysia. Kuantan are the defending champions and current ...

International career

He represented Malaysia U-23 for the 2001 Sea Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He also represents Malaysia U-23 for the Afro-Asian Games Hyderabad, India in October 2003. In 2002, Akmal was called up for an international friendly match against five times World Cup winners Brazil. He was selected as one of the first eleven to play against Brazilian stars such as

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...

and Barca's Ronaldinho. He has also been called up by Malaysia national football team coach Norizan Bakar for the

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

2007 in July, co-hosting by 4 countries Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia.

After retirement from playing

Akmal Rizal retired from playing professionally in 2016. After retiring, he was the co-commentator for live telecasts of Malaysia football in Media Prima Berhad television stations. He also opened a youth football academy in his hometown Jitra, while completing his AFC coaching course, and as of 2017, he holds 'B' license in this course. In June 2019, he finally completing his AFC coaching course and earned AFC 'A' license.

Managerial career

On 27 December 2019, Akmal was hired to become assistant head coach for Penang FC in

2020 Malaysia Premier League The 2020 Malaysia Premier League was the 17th season of the Malaysia Premier League, the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia since its establishment in 2004. The season started on 29 February and should end on 20 July 2020. Howev ...

. In 2022, he then became head coach for Penang U-21.

International Senior Goals

Honours

Club

FCSR Haguenau *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Kedah FA * Liga Perdana 2 :

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

* Liga Perdana 1 : runner-up

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

* Malaysia Premier League : 2005-06 Selangor FA *

: runner-up 2008 *

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 ...

: runner-up

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; ...

Kelantan FA * Malaysia Super League : runner-up

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

International

Malaysia U-23 * SEA Games : silver

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

Manager

Penang U-21 * Sukma Games : silver 2022

References

External links

*
Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli's Profile at selangorfc.com
{{Malaysia Squad 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1981 births Living people Footballers from Kedah Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian men's footballers Malaysia men's international footballers Malaysian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Malaysian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in France Malaysian expatriate sportspeople in France RC Strasbourg Alsace players Kuala Muda Naza F.C. players Kelantan F.C. players Selangor F.C. players Perak F.C. players Sarawak FA players Kedah Darul Aman F.C. players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Malaysia Super League players Men's association football forwards SEA Games silver medalists for Malaysia SEA Games bronze medalists for Malaysia SEA Games medalists in football Competitors at the 2001 SEA Games Competitors at the 2003 SEA Games