Khairul Fahmi Che Mat

Khairul Fahmi Che Mat (born 7 January 1989 in Kota Bharu, Kelantan) is a Malaysian professional footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for Malaysian club Kelantan and the Malaysia national team.^[1][2] He is also a former member of Malaysia U-23 and Malaysia U-20 squad.

Club career

Kelantan President Cup Team

Khairul Fahmi started playing for the Kelantan President's Cup Team in 2006. He was the team's main goalkeeper and helped Kelantan reach the finals in the 2006–07 President Cup Malaysia. However, Kelantan later lost by penalties.

Harimau Muda

Khairul Fahmi was later chosen to be in the Harimau Muda team for the 2008 Premier League season, alongside Ahmad Fakri Saarani.

PSV Eindhoven Youth Team trials

He had also impressed the Dutch club, PSV Eindhoven and went for a-week trials with the club's Under-19 and Under-23 teams. He went there with his teammate, Mohd Asraruddin Putra Omar after they showed excellent performances in the 2007 Champions Youth Cup.^[3]

Return to Kelantan

In season 2009, Khairul Fahmi returned to Kelantan and registered for senior squad at the age of 20. He was the youngest goalkeeper ever to play for the Kelantan senior team. He made his appearances for senior squad after silly mistake from Syed Adney during their match against Kedah in Malaysia Super League.^[4]

In 2010, he was part of the Kelantan's 2010 Malaysia Cup winning team.^[5] He also won The Best Young Player and Best Goalkeeper awards at the 2010 Anugerah Bola Sepak Kebangsaan 100Plus-FAM.^[6]

International career

Malaysia under-23 national team

Khairul Fahmi made his first appearance for Malaysia under-23 at the 2010 Asian Games. He helped his team qualify into the second round but later lost to Iran, 1–3.^[7] Khairul Fahmi became Malaysia's hero when he saved two penalties and they won 4–3 in the penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw against Indonesia to ensure Malaysia retained the prestigious SEA Games gold medal. Khairul Fahmi also helped his team qualify into the Men's Asian Qualifiers Preliminary Round 3 of 2012 Summer Olympics Qualification. However, Malaysia failed to win any matches in the group stage.

Malaysia senior national team

Khairul Fahmi made his debut against Oman on 3 September 2010 replacing Mohd Sharbinee Allawee Ramli during the second half. He kept a clean sheet for the entire second half after Malaysia conceding 3 goals in the first half of the match. In November 2010, Khairul Fahmi was called up to the Malaysia national squad by coach K. Rajagopal for the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup. Khairul kept a cleansheet against Thailand on a 0–0 draw. Khairul also kept a cleansheet against Vietnam twice in the semi finals. In the first leg of the finals, Khairul played well against the Indonesians. The match ended a 3–0 win to Malaysia, thus earning another clean sheet to Khairul.^[8] In the second leg of the finals held in Indonesia, Khairul gave another outstanding performance by making numerous saves including a brilliant penalty save early in the match. The save proved to be a pivotal moment in the match in which Malaysia scored an away goal. Malaysia won on 4–2 aggregate and lifted the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup title for the first time.^[9] Khairul Fahmi was selected for the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup. On 26 November 2012, Malaysia's opening group match against Singapore ended up with the Malaysian side losing 0–3. The Lions scored the first goal through their captain, Shahril Ishak at the 32nd-minute. Six minutes later, Ishak once again scored a goal for the Lions as a result of Khairul Fahmi's blunder at goal. In the second half, veteran Singaporean forward Aleksandar Đurić completed the rout against the Tigers with the third and final goal of the game. The match resulted in 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup holders Malaysia losing its first group match of the tournament, and Khairul was subsequently dropped for the rest of the Tigers' campaign.

Career statistics

Club statistics

As of 22 October 2016.^[10]

International

As of 28 November 2016.^[11]

National team Year Apps Goals Malaysia 2010 7 0 2011 3 0 2012 6 0 2013 6 0 2014 8 0 2015 6 0 2016 8 0 Total 7 44 0

International appearances and goals # Date Venue Opponent Result Goal Competition 2010 1. 3 September Al-Wakrah, Qatar  Oman 3–0 (L) 0 Friendly 2. 4 December Jakarta, Indonesia  Thailand 0–0 (D) 0 AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 3. 7 December Jakarta, Indonesia  Laos 5–1 (W) 0 AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 4. 15 December Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Vietnam 2–0 (W) 0 AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 5. 18 December Jakarta, Indonesia  Vietnam 0–0 (D) 0 AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 6. 26 December Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Indonesia 3–0 (W) 0 AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 7. 29 December Jakarta, Indonesia  Indonesia 2–1 (L) 0 AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 2011 8. 9 February Selangor, Malaysia  Hong Kong 2–0 (W) 0 Friendly 9. 28 July Selangor, Malaysia  Singapore 1–1 (D) 0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 10. 7 October Canberra, Australia  Australia 5–0 (L) 0 Friendly 2012 11. 29 February Manila, Philippines  Philippines 1–1 (D) 0 Friendly 12. 8 June Jalan Besar, Singapore  Singapore 2–2 (D) 0 Friendly 13. 12 June Selangor, Malaysia  Singapore 2–0 (W) 0 Friendly 14. 3 November Hanoi, Vietnam  Vietnam 1–0 (L) 0 Friendly 15. 14 November Shah Alam, Malaysia  Hong Kong 1–1 (D) 0 Friendly 16. 25 November Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Singapore 0–3 (L) 0 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup 2013 17. 6 February Doha, Qatar  Qatar 2–0 (L) 0 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification 18. 22 March Shah Alam, Malaysia  Yemen 2–1 (W) 0 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification 19. 15 October Shah Alam, Malaysia  Bahrain 1–1 (D) 0 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification 20. 15 October Kuwait City, Kuwait  Kuwait 0–3 (L) 0 Friendly 21. 15 November Manama, Bahrain  Bahrain 1–0 (L) 0 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification 22. 19 November Shah Alam, Malaysia  Qatar 0–1 (L) 0 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification 2014 23. 5 March Al Ain, UAE  Yemen 1–2 (W) 0 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification 24. 27 April Cebu, Philippines  Philippines 0–0 (D) 0 Friendly 25. 20 October Shah Alam, Malaysia  Cambodia 4–1 (W) 0 Friendly 26. 16 November Hanoi, Vietnam  Vietnam 3–1 (L) 0 Friendly 27. 23 November Jalan Besar, Singapore  Myanmar 0–0 (D) 0 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup 28. 26 November Jalan Besar, Singapore  Thailand 2–3 (L) 0 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup 29. 29 November Kallang Stadium, Singapore  Singapore 3–1 (W) 0 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup 30. 7 December Shah Alam Stadium, Malaysia  Vietnam 1–2 (L) 0 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup

Exhibition matches / Malaysia XI

#	Date	Location	Head coach	Opponent	Result	Team
1	13 July 2011	National Stadium, Bukit Jalil	K. Rajagopal	Arsenal F.C.	0–4 (L)	Malaysia XI
2	16 July 2011	National Stadium, Bukit Jalil	K. Rajagopal	Liverpool F.C	3–6 (L)	Malaysia XI
3	30 July 2012	National Stadium, Bukit Jalil	K. Rajagopal	Manchester City F.C	1–3 (L)	Malaysia XI

Personal life

Khairul Fahmi is the fourth of five siblings. He received his early education at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Tapang, Kota Bharu. Then he entered Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawar, Johor Bahru. After that he furthered Sekolah Sukan Bukit Jalil (National Sports School). He was active in sports and has represented the school since primary school. On 28 December 2012, Khairul Fahmi married Nur Eilunie Natasha Jaafar.^[12] They have a daughter named Kayla Elayna, and a son named Khaleel Emir.^[13]

Honours

Clubs

Kelantan

• Malaysia Cup (2) : 2010, 2012
• Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup (Charity Shield Malaysia) (1) : 2011
• Malaysia Super League (2) : 2011, 2012
• FA Cup (2) : 2012, 2013 Runner-up 2015

International

• AFF Suzuki Cup:

Winners: 2010

Runner Up : 2014

• 2011 Southeast Asian Games – Football:

Gold Medal: 2011

Individuals

• Best Young Players:2010
• Best Goalkeepers: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013^[14]
• Goal.com Asian Under-23 Best XI for 2011^[15]
• Goal.com readers' Asian Best XI of 2011^[16]
• Goal.com readers' Asian Best Goalkeeper of 2011^[17]

Quotes

"Perempuan idaman gua, saya suka yang aktif, ceria, kelakar, lawak. Yang paling penting, dia mesti wangi" ("For my ideal woman, I would like her to be active, cheerful, funny, comical. Most importantly, she must smell nice") – 2012 television advertisement for SimplySiti

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Khairul Fahmi Che Mat.

• Khairul Fahmi Che Mat at National-Football-Teams.com
• Khairul Fahmi Che Mat Goal.com profile