Robert Choe (born 13 January 1940 in Malacca) is a former

Malacca FA 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 ...

and

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 ...

player in the 1950s–1960s.

Career overview

A Striker, Robert was a squad player for Malaya that captured the 1958, 1959 and 1960

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 ...

editions. In 1959, he was selected for the inaugural Asian Youth Championship. On 16 December 1961, Robert help the national team's to win the gold medal in the 1961 SEAP Games (now

SEA Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supe ...

) in Rangoon, the Burmese (now Myanmar) after beating the

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

in the finals. He also a part of the Malaya player that winning bronze medals in the

1962 Asian Games ) , Host city = Jakarta, Indonesia , Nations participating = 17 , Athletes participating = 1,460 , Events = 120 in 13 sports , Opening ceremony = 24 August 1962 , Closing ceremony = 4 September 1962 , ...

. In 1962, he was also offered by

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

(along with

Abdul Ghani Minhat Abdul Ghani bin Minhat (Jawi script, Jawi: عبدالغاني منحة; ‎ 23 December 1935 – 28 September 2012) was a Association football, football player who represented the team Selangor FA and Negeri Sembilan FA in the 1950s until th ...

) to attend a trial session. At the 1966 Asian Games in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

, Robert was honored to captain the national squad before announcing his retirement from the international stage at the age of 26 to focus on a career as a banker.Nifty Robert achieved plenty of football feats in a short time
– The Star at Pressreader. Retrieved 3 November 2022.

Personal life

On 24 October 1964, after married with Alice Choe, the couple was blessed with a pair of sons, Fahrian Choe Choon Huah and Timothy Choe Choon Seng. Fahrian was named after Germany's goalkeeper at the

1962 World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place bet ...

, Wolfgang Fahrian, who became Robert friend when traveling to Europe. "Fahrian was happy to know that I named my first child after him," said Robert.Nifty Robert achieved plenty of football feats in a short time
- The Star at Pressreader. Retrieved 3 November 2022.

Honours

;Malacca *

Malaysia FAM Cup The FAM Cup (Malay: Piala FAM) was a knock-out tournament for teams in both the Malaysia M3 League and the Malaysia M4 League in Malaysia. The tournament was a cup format, but from 2008 to 2018 was held as a third-tier league tournament and use ...

runner-up: 1957, 1958 ;Malaysia U19 * AFC Youth Championship runner-up:

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

;Malaysia * Southeast Asian Peninsular Games:

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

* Asian Games: Bronze Medal

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

Pestabola Merdeka 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 ...

: 1958, 1959, 1960

References

Living people Malaysian footballers 1940 births People from Malacca Association football forwards Malacca FA players {{Malaysia-footy-bio-stub