Southeast Asia Greatest All-Time Team

2014 AFF Champion: Thailand
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

AustraliaSaudi ArabiaIran.
ChinaJapanSouth KoreaHong KongEast Asia
West and Central Asia
Central Asia
Dutch-Indos/Indonesia-born Dutch All-Time Team

ASEAN Football Federation was founded in 1984.  Its member countries included Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and East Timor.  Australia is an invited member of the association.  They do not participated in the AFF Championship.  The region is dominated by Thailand and Singapore.  The Dutch East Indies(Indonesia) is the only country that played in the WC Finals when it went to France in 1938.  Paulino Alcántara of the Philippines is the most famous player coming from Southeast Asia.  
Dutch East Indies at the WC Finals in 1938
Team
GK:  Chow Chee Keong (Malaysia)
Chow was a Malaysian Chinese.  He earned his first senior cap as a 15 years old.  From 1966 to 1970, he was voted the best keeper in Asia for 5 straight seasons.  In 1970, he went to play in the Hong Kong league, which was the only professional league in East Asia. He was the AFC Goalkeeper of the Century.
Chow Chee Keong
GK: Neil Etheridge (Philippines)
Born in the United Kingdom, Etheridge came from the youth ranks of  Fulham in 2008. He spent his career around the lower division in the UK.  From 2015-2017, he played for Walsall.  At the time of writing, he played for Cardiff City. He had represented England at the Under-16.  In 2008, he accepted an invitation top play for the Philippines, the home nation of his mother.

GK: Pham Van Rang (Vietnam)
He is considered one of the best goalkeeper in the history of football in Vietnam.  He played Ba Chieu Star in Vietnam. In 1953, at the age of 19, he  played his first match for national football team of the Republic of Vietnam. He won the gold medal at the SEAP Games 1959 in Thailand. This is also the only time so far that Vietnam team achieved gold medal at the Southeast Asian Games. In 1966, he played for an Asian all-star selection team against Chelsea, in which the Asians won.

RB: Niweat Siriwong (Thailand) 
From 1998 to 2002, he played for the Thai national team. He earned over 90 caps.  In 2000, he was a part of the team that won the AFF Championship. He also went to three AFC Asian Cup: 2000, 2004 and 2007.  From 1996 to 2017, he played for various clubs all over Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.  
Niweat Siriwong
RB: S. Subramani (Singapore)
Subramani started his career at Tanjong Pagar United, where he helped his then club win the Singapore Cup and Singapore FA Cup in 1998, as well as being named S.League player of the year. He signed for Home United from the 1999 season.   He had 115 caps for Singapore. He played in every game in both the historic 1998 and 2004 triumphant Tiger Cup campaigns. He also played in two SEA Games, reaching the semi-finals in both Jakarta 1997 and Brunei 1999.

CB: Win Nyunt Myo (Burma/Myanmar)
Win Nyunt Myo played for Burma between 1967 and 1977 at the time when Burma was a power in Asia.  He represented them at the 1972 Olympics held in Munich, a team coached by Bert Trautmann. He also won the 1972 President's Cup Football Tournament in South Korea.

CB: Chatchai Paholpat (Thailand)
From 1963 to 1980, he played for Bangkok Bank FC. His international career lasted from 1966 to 1974.  In 1968, he represented Thailand at the Olympics held in Mexico. Unfortunately, he was remembered for receiving a red card.

CB: Daniel Bennett (Singapore)
Born in England, Bennett moved to Singapore as a 2 years old. He played for a number of clubs in the S-League.  In the 2001-2002 season, he played for Wrexham in Wales.  Bennett received his Singaporean citizenship under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme and started to play for Singapore in 2002. At the time of writing, he has over 140 caps and is the all-time cap leader with Singapore. He won the ASEAN Football Championship three times: 2004, 2007, 2012.
Daniel Bennett 
CB: Samad Allapitchay (Singapore)
Samad Allapitchay  played for Geylang International and Tampines Rovers, and the Singapore Lions in the Malaysia Cup as a centre-back.  He won the Malaysia Cup: 1977, 1980. He was once dubbed "The Rock of Gilbratar" by his national team coach Mick Walker. Between 1968 and 1981, he earned 105 caps.

SW: Soh Chin Aun (Malaysia)
Soh Chin Aun is Malaysian Chinese.  He played for Selangor FA  between 1970 and 1980 and  Malacca FA between 1981 and 1983. He represented Malaysia at the 1972 Olympics and the AFC Asian Cup in 1980.  Malaysia also qualified for the 1980 Olympics, but did not attend. He claimed to have played for Malaysia 324 times, a record not recognised by FIFA.

CB: Datuk M. Chandran (Malaysia)
Datuk M. Chandran was a Malaysian of Indian ethnicity. He was the team captain of the 1972 Olympic Games.  In 1974, he helped Malaysia to finish third at the Asian Games.  He also played 15 years for Selangor. Chandran was honored with the state title of ‘Dato’, a coveted recognition granted by the royal house of the state of Pahang in 2000, for services to football.
Datuk M. Chandran 

LB: Dusit Chalermsan (Thailand)
In 1989 He started to played with Police United. After one season, He moved to BEC Tero Sasana.  He also played with Mohun Bagan A.C. in India and with Hoàng Anh Gia Lai in Vietnam, where he won the V.League 1 title several times. Dusit was awarded a medal for his contributions to Vietnamese football. For Thailand, he played earned 124 caps between 1996-2004.

DM: Witthaya Hloagune (Thailand)
His footballing career started when Raj Pracha Thailand F.C., a club based in Bangkok. When he moved to Hertha BSC in 1979, he became the first Thais in the German Bundesliga. In 1982, he moved to 1. FC Saarbrücken, winning the Oberliga West in 1982-83.  He also played for Gamba Osaka in Japan. Earned 61 caps for Thailand.

CM: Achmad Nawir (Dutch East Indies/Indonesia)
Achmad Nawir was the captain of the Dutch East Indian national team at the 1938 FIFA World Cup, crashing out of the tournament in a 6–0 defeat to Hungary.  He only played one other international match against Holland just before the World Cup Finals.  He was a medical doctor by trade.  He was one of the few players who played with glassed in the Finals.
Achmad Nawir 
CM: Wong Choon Wah (Malaysia)
Wong Choon Wah went to the 1972 Olympics in Munich with Malaysia. In Malaysia Cup competitions, Wong played for Selangor FA, winning the championship five times. From 1972 to 1974, Wong played professional football with South China Athletic Association in Hong Kong.
CM: Chalermwoot Sa-ngapol (Thailand)
Known as the "Glenn Hoddle" of Thai football, he played 176 times for the Thai national team.  He spent 20 years playing for Bangkok Bank.  With the team, he reached the semifinal of the AFC Cup Winners Cup in 2000. He also spent a single season with Thailand Tobacco Monopoly F.C.

ST/RW: Suk Bahadur (Burma/Myanmar)
Suk Bahadur was known to be the greatest footballer from his country. He was a Gurkha from Shan state Kalaw of Myanmar(Burma).  He had represented the state team of Shan. He was an army officer and also played for the Army Team. With the national team, he won Gold Medals at the 1966 and 1970 Asian Games, and God Medals Southeast Asian Games at 1965, 1967 and 1969.  
Suk Bahadur 
AM: Ronny Pattinasarani (Indonesia)
He started his careeer with PSM Makassar team in 1968. He moved to Warna Agung in which he played from 1978 to 1982. With the national team of Indonesia, he won 31 caps from 1973 to 1981.  He won silver medals at the Southeast Asian Games of 1976 and 1981. He won the National Best Athletes Award of 1976 and 1981 in Indonesia.

AM: Therdsak Chaiman (Thailand)
Therdsak is one of Southeast Asia's greatest footballers. For his club football, he played in Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.  While playing for Singapore;s SAFFC in 2002,  he won S.League player of the year.  In 2003, Therdsak led BEC Tero Sasana to the final of the AFC Champions League. As a result, he was named the 2003 AFC Champions League most valuable player. For the national team, he played 75 times.  He won the Tiger Cup in 2002, where he was the MVP award.
Therdsak Chaiman 
ST: Teerasil Dangda (Thailand)
At the time of writing, he plays for J1 League club Sanfrecce Hiroshima on from Muangthong United in the Thailand.  In 2007, he was signed by Manchester City alongside Suree Sukha and Kiatprawut Saiwaeo, but he never played for them.  Instead, he was sent on loan to Grasshopper Club Zürich. He also spent a season on loan with Almería and became the first Thai to play in La Liga. For Thailand, he won the 2016 AFF Championship.  He was AFF Football Championship Top Scorers in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

ST: Kiatisuk Senamuang (Thailand)
Known as "Zico, Kiatisuk also earned 131 caps and scored 70 goals for the country between 1992 and 2007. He won three ASEAN Football Championship Champions (1996, 2000, 2002).  He played for clubs in Malaysia, Singapore, England and Vietnam as well as clubs in Thailand.   In the 1999-2000 season, he joined English club Huddersfield Town, but never featured for a single game.   
Kiatisuk Senamuang 
ST: Piyapong Pue-on (Thailand)
He was a member of the Thai air force and played for the Royal Air Force Team from 1979 to 1984.  He joined FC Seoul, then known as the Lucky-Goldstar FC, in August 1984, where he won the league title in 1984 as one of their key players. He also played for Pahang FA in Malaysia. Capped 100 times for Thailand. 

ST: Fandi Ahmad (Singapore)
Fandi Ahmad is the greatest footballer from Singapore. He played for Malaysia Cup state sides Singapore FA, Kuala Lumpur FA and Pahang FA, and won titles with all three, including two Doubles in 1992 and 1994, and the Golden Boot in 1988. Fandi also played for Niac Mitra (Indonesia), Groningen (Netherlands), Geylang United (Singapore) and SAFFC (Singapore). In 1983, Fandi moved to the Netherlands and signed a two-year contract with FC Groningen. From 1979 to 1997, Fandi made 101 appearances for the Singapore national football team, scored 55 goals and earned a place in the Asian Football Confederation Hall of Fame.

ST:  Paulino Alcántara (Philippines)
Born in the Philippines of a half-Spanish, half-Filipino, he made his debut for Barcelona at the age of 15 and remains the youngest player to play or score for the club. He also scored 100 goals in 69 matches, making him the club's highest goalscorer He was selected for the Philippine national football team in 1917 and represented his country at the Far Eastern Championship Games.  In 1921. he was selected to play for Spain.  he scored 6 goals in 5 games for Spain.
Paulino Alcántara 
Honorable Mention 
Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia), Abdul Ghani Minhat (Malaysia), Syed Ahmad (Malaysia), Lionel Lewis (Singapore), Noh Alam Shah (Singapore), V. Sundramoorthy (Singapore), Majid Ariff (Singapore), Indra Sahdan Daud (Singapore), Aleksandar Đurić (Singapore), Mirko Grabovac (Singapore), Teerasil Dangda (Thailand), Worrawoot Srimaka (Thailand), Vorawan Chitavanich (Thailand), Pichai Kongsri (Thailand), Totchtawan Sripan (Thailand), Maulwi Saelan (Indonesia), Bambang Pamungkas (Indonesia), Soetjipto Soentoro (Indonesia), Nol van der Vin (Indonesia), Tan Mo Heng (Dutch East Indies/Indonesia), Henk Zomers (Dutch East Indies/Indonesia), Sutan Anwar (Dutch East Indies/Indonesia), Lê Huỳnh Đức (Vietnam), Phạm Huỳnh Tam Lang (Vietnam), Javier Patiño (Philippines), James Younghusband (Philippines)

Squad Explanation
-- The comparison between players in the region is difficult.  I only selected the famous players from each country.  I tried my best to spread the team around.
-- Pham Van Rang (Vietnam) got the third keeper spot ahead of others because he was the only Vietnames footballers under serious consideration.
-- Chow Chee Keong (仇志強) is sometimes considered to be the greatest goalkeeper from all of Asia.  He was the AFC Goalkeeper of the Century.  He starred in the Hong Kong league, which was almost liked a mini-version of the NASL in Asia.
-- We had three Indonesian goalkeepers under consideration. Nol van der Vin (Indonesia) played in the Dutch league back in the 1950's. I have limited information on Maulwi Saelan (Indonesia), who is widely considered to be the best ever from Indonesia.  Tan Mo Heng represented the Dutch East Indies at the WC Finals in 1938.  He is the only member of that team who played for Indonesia after independence.
-- Alphonse Areola has been asked to play for the Philippines. No keeper from Southeast Asia has played at that level.
-- I created a Dutch-Indos/Indonesia-born Dutch All-Time Team.  None of the players there is eligible here.  They never played for Indonesia.
-- Neil Etheridge (Philippines) got the third keeper spot ahead of Lionel Lewis of Singapore because he is one of the few Southeast Asian national team players who had a career in Europe.
-- The Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)is the only Southeast Asian team that went to the WC Finals.  Henk Zomers, Sutan Anwar and team captain Achmad Nawir were relatively unknown.  They only played two international matches ever.  Achmad Nawir made the team as a symbolic gesture.
-- Daniel Bennett (Singapore) is the cap record holder for Singapore, in an era where Singapore did well in AFF Championship.
-- Suk Bahadur played in an era when Burma/Myanmar was among the best team in Asia.  Aung Tin was a well-known keeper of his era. 
-- Cambodia had a strong team in the early 1970's.  I know nothing about them.
-- I want to find space for  Dollah Kassim. Instead, I took two Thai attackers, Teerasil Dangda and Therdsak Chaiman.  
-- Paulino Alcántara had played for the Philippines.  So he is eligible.

Formation


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