Khairul Azman bin Mohamed (born 5 March 1968) is a former Malaysian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who was a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Pahang Pahang (;Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a ...

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

and the Malaysia national team.

Career

Khairul started his football career with Pahang youth team in 1985. At that time he was only seventeen and he was the best youth goalkeeper for Pahang. His impressive performance with the Pahang youth team had attract him to represent Malaysia at the ASEAN School Championship at

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. He was then chosen to be the part of

Pahang FA Sri Pahang Football Club () is a Malaysian professional football club based in Kuantan, Pahang. Founded in 1959 and has traditionally worn a yellow home kit since. At the beginning, club's home matches were held around the city public fields an ...

senior squad during 1985 season. In 1991, he was chosen to be the part of

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 ...

. His memorable games at the international arena are against

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Engl ...

where Malaysia lost 2–4 against the world giant. 1993 saw him clinch his first international title after helping Malaysia to defeat

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

3–1 at the 1993

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 ...

. During his time with

, he helped the ''Tok Gajah'' to win 1992

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 ...

and runners-up during 1994 and 1995

. After the 1995 season ended without winning any trophy, he transferred to

Sabah FA Sabah Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bolasepak Sabah) is a football club with ownership by Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd. The football club competes in Malaysia's football league representing the state of Sabah in Borneo. They currently compete in M ...

, East Malaysia. During his days with Sabah FA, he enjoyed many great success with ''The Rhinos''. He won the Malaysian FA Cup in his first season with Sabah. Then, he helped Sabah to clinch their first Malaysian League title at 1996 season and brought Sabah to their first

final. Sabah eventually lost their first final to

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

by penalties but his impressive performance voted him as the Best Player during 1996

. He was then chosen to represent Malaysia at the 1996 Tiger Cup. He helped the

to finish second after losing to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

1–0. He also played for Malaysia national futsal team, and was in the squad that took part in the 1996 FIFA Futsal World Championship in Spain. In 2002 and 2003 season he helped Sabah to their second and third finals. However, he again failed to help Sabah to clinch Malaysia Cup title after again losing to

1–0 in 2002 and 3–0 to Selangor MPPJ FC in 2003. He officially retired from football during 2005 season after he failed to recover from an injury.

Coaching career

After retired from playing football, Khairul Azman decided to become goalkeeper coach. He worked as a Sabah FA goalkeeper coach for four years and produce talent like Sabah's current goalkeeper Irwan Jamil. For the 2009 season

replaced him for new senior team goalkeeper coach, Awal Taham. In 2013, he moves to

Darul Takzim FC Johor Darul Ta'zim Football Club or simply JDT is a professional football club based in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. The club was founded in 1972 as PKENJ FC and currently competes in the top division of Malaysian football, the Malaysia Supe ...

to become their new goalkeepers' coach.

Life after retirement

Khairul now leads a simple and quiet life with his wife Khairiah alias Caren John Bion in Penampang and their child. Khairul is currently unemployed and depends solely on a monthly pension of RM540 from the Social Security Organisation. His right knee does not have any ligaments, tendon or meniscus, key components that links limbs. His left knee is without ligaments and tendon. He has stated that he could not afford the RM16,000 needed for the operation to do tendon or ligament replacements. In an interview with

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as ''The Straits Times'' on 15 July 1845. It was relaunched as the ' ...

he said "if I can have this surgery, I wish to return to coaching or even contribute to sports development in whatever manner. I will advise young athletes to take care of their health and not end up like me."

Achievements

International

* Champion 1992

Indonesian Independence Cup The Indonesian Independence Cup ( Indonesian: ''Piala Kemerdekaan'') was an international football tournament organised by the Football Association of Indonesia to commemorate the independence day of the Republic of Indonesia Indonesia, o ...

* Champion 1993 Merdeka Tournament * Runner-up

1996 AFF Championship The 1996 AFF Championship, sponsored by Asia Pacific Breweries and officially known as the 1996 Tiger Cup, was the inaugural edition of the AFF Championship. It was hosted by Singapore from 1 to 15 September 1996 with all 10 nations of Southeast ...

Club

;

* Champion 1996 Liga Perdana * Champion 1995 Malaysia FA Cup * Runners-up 1996, 2002, 2003

;

* Champion 1992 Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 1 * Champion 1992

* Runner-up 1994

Individual

* Best Player 1996

References

External links

Bola sepak tetap bertakhta di hati saya (Malay)

Sepatu bola, bela kucing isi masa Khairul (Malay)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khairul Azman Mohamed 1968 births Living people Malaysian footballers Malaysia international footballers Association football goalkeepers Sabah F.C. (Malaysia) players Sri Pahang FC players People from Pahang Footballers at the 1994 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Malaysia