1957 Merdeka Tournament
The first edition of the Merdeka Tournament was held in August and September 1957 in Malaya (now Malaysia). It was won by Hong Kong League XI.[nb 1] Singapore won a consolation tournament for teams that did not qualify for the final round.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Federation of Malaya |
| Dates | 31 August – 7 September |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Hong Kong (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Indonesia |
| Third place |  South Vietnam |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Goals scored | 28 (4.67 per match) |
First round
A series of knockout ties was held to determine which teams would compete in the second round. The match between South Vietnam and Singapore required a replay as the score was level at the end of the first match.
| Hong Kong League XI | 6–2 |  Cambodia |
|---|---|---|
Law Kwok Tai  28' Chow Man Chi 32' Lau Yee 35' (pen.) Kwok Yau 64' Mok Chun Wah 64' Ho Ying Fan 69' |
Nguon Ban 22' Cham Rong 71' |
| South Vietnam | 5–5 (a.e.t.) |  Singapore |
|---|---|---|
| Duc 5', 8', 31', 92' Ho 29' |
Peter Corthine 13', 17' Hatch 57', 61' Arthur Koh 95' |
Malaya  | 5–2 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Burma |
|---|---|---|
| Kong Leong 19' Abdul Ghani Minhat 23'Govindarajoo 25' Wai Hong 37' Rahim Omar 47' |
Yaui Do 33' Vernon Styles 42' |
First Round Replay
| South Vietnam | 2–1 | Singapore |
|---|---|---|
| Tu 48' Don 51' |
Peter Corthine 85' |
Second round
The winning teams from the first round played a series of matches against one another. The team finishing top of the group was the tournament winner.
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong League XI |
5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 5 | +3 |
| Indonesia |
4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 |
| South Vietnam |
2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | −1 |
| Malaya |
1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 11 | −5 |
| Hong Kong League XI | 2–1 | Indonesia |
|---|---|---|
| Law Kwok Tai 42' Szeto Man 53' |
Aang Witarsa 20' |
| Malaya | 1–4 | South Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
| Abdul Ghani Minhat 12' |
Kane 2', 55' Duc 54', 62' |
| Malaya | 3–3 | Hong Kong League XI |
|---|---|---|
| Abdul Ghani Minhat 26', 33' Cheok Foo 79' (pen.) |
Law Kwok Tai 10', 23' Szeto Man 30' |
| Indonesia | 3–1 | South Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
| Tee San Liong 10' Omo Suratmo 17' Saari 50' |
Don 78' |
| Malaya | 2–4 | Indonesia |
|---|---|---|
| Abdul Ghani Minhat 18', 40' |
Jasrin Jusron 32', 70' Saari 55', 63' |
| Hong Kong League XI | 3–1 | South Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
| Lau Yee 16' Szeto Man [nb 2] 37' Law Kwok Tai 58' |
[3] | own goal 85' |
Consolation Tournament
The losing teams from the first round played a series of matches against one another as a consolation tournament. The team finishing top of the group was the winner of this tournament.
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore |
5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 |
| Burma |
4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 |
 Thailand |
2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 | −6 |
| Cambodia |
1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 |
Singapore .svg.png.webp){kind=small} | 6–0 | Thailand |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Corthine 12', 60' Arthur Koh 61', 68' Ibrahim Mansoor 65' Hatch 70' |
| Burma | 2–0 | Cambodia |
|---|---|---|
| Maung Maung 65' Pe-khin 75' |
| Burma | 5–2 | Thailand |
|---|---|---|
| Samuel Gordon 27' Vernon Styles 32' Tun Kyi 40', 72' own goal 49' |
Santan 10', 50' |
| Singapore | 3–2 | Burma |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Corthine 9' Hatch 22' Ibrahim Hassan 34' |
Suk Bahadur 42', 66' |
Goalscorers
|
Notes
- Most of the members of Hong Kong team, except Mok Chun Wa, were actually from Eastern Sports Club, which the football club was playing friendly matches in the Asia-Pacific. Most of the players of the teams (9 out of 14) such as Mok, Ho Ying Fun, Law Kwok Tai, were in fact ineligible to Hong Kong, as they were the representatives of Republic of China (Taiwan) in official competition, despite all either born or based in Hong Kong.[1] HKFA invited Eastern and other players to form a scratch team for the competition.[2]
- AFP credited to Szeto Man, while Wah Kiu Yat Po credited to Ho Ying Fun
1. One source (P.S.S.I, "Kenang-Kenangan P.S.S.I. 50th 19 April 1930 – 19 April 1980", 1980.) report this match as a 4–2 victory to Malaya.
References
- Lee, John C.W. (2015). 足球王國：戰後初期的香港足球 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Hong Kong: Joint Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 9789620437823. Retrieved 18 December 2017 – via Google Books preview.
- 足總首次執委會議 渣甸東華均獲陞甲組 足聯抗議另開會研討 參加馬來亞獨立賽擬請東方代表. Wah Kiu Yat Po (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 14 August 1957. p. 8.
- 默迪卡國際足球賽結束 聯合邦元首嚴端 以總理杯贈港球隊. Wah Kiu Yat Po (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Agence France-Presse. 9 September 1957. p. 8.