Namat Abdullah

Dato' Namat Abdullah DSPN AMN (30 March 1946 – 17 December 2020) was a Malaysian footballer. He was a part of the Malaysian squad at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Career overview
He was born in Butterworth, Penang. Namat played as a striker when he helped Penang won the Burnley Cup in 1965 before playing as a right-back. Namat featured for the Malaysian national team in the 1972 Munich Olympics football competition, playing all three group games. He also played for Malaysia in the 1974 World Cup qualifying matches. For a period, Namat was captain of Penang FA. He led Penang to a 2-1 victory in 1974 Malaysia Cup final against Perak.

On 11 May 1975, Namat was also part of the Malaysia Selection that played against Arsenal FC in a friendly match which his team won by 2-0 at Merdeka Stadium.

During his international career, Namat went on to play a total of 115 matches for Malaysia (including non-FIFA 'A' international matches). Against other nations' national 'A' teams, he had total of 95 caps.

In 2003, he was awarded Maal Hijrah Sports Figure by Penang Malay Association.

On 17 September 2014, FourFourTwo he was listed among the top 25 Malaysian footballers of all time.

Personal life
Shahruddin Abdullah, his brother also played for Penang and together with his uncle, Aziz Ahmad.

Death
He died at his son-in-law's residence in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia at 74 after a long battle with intestinal cancer at 5.30 pm on 17 December 2020. His body was brought to his residence in Taman Peruda, Sungai Petani the same day and his funeral was held at 9 pm the following day on 18 December 2020.

Honours
Penang
 * Burnley Cup: 1964/65, 1966
 * Malaysia Kings Gold Cup: 1966, 1968, 1969
 * Malaysia Cup: 1974
 * Aga Khan Gold Cup: 1976

Penjara
 * Malaysia FAM Cup: 1970, 1971, 1973

Malaysia
 * Bronze medal Asian Games: 1974
 * Kings Cup: 1972
 * Merdeka Tournament: 1968, 1973, 1974

Individual
 * OCM Hall of Fame - 1972 Summer Olympics football team: 2004
 * Goal.com The best Malaysia XI of all time: 2020
 * IFFHS Men’s All Time Malaysia Dream Team: 2022

Orders

 * 🇲🇾 Malaysia :
 * MY Darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negara (Defender of the Realm) - SMN.svg Member of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (AMN) (1975)
 * Penang :
 * MY-PEN Order of the Defender of State - Officer - DSPN.svg Officer of the Order of the Defender of State (DSPN) – Dato' (2011)