Imran, what have you done in 17 years?

We are not intend to judge whether a tweet is geniune or fake, but it’s a worrying sign if a local questions what former national team goal keeper Imran Mohamed has done for our football in the past 17 years. 

It didn’t take us much longer to list down his contribution to Maldivian football. 

Number of games played for senior national team: 111 games

Since his selection for senior national team in 2000, he was only omitted from national team games due to injury.

1999 – played for U23 national team 

2000 – First game for senior national team was an international friendly game against Malaysia, lost 2-0. 

Named man of the match in Maldives 2-1 defeat against Syria in Asian Cup Qualifying

Golden Jubilee Tournament held in Male’ (we lost the final on penalties to Sri Lanka)

2001 – Maldives lost 10-1 away in China but turned that score to a narrow 1-0 defeat in Maldives. 

Beat Cambodia by 6-0

2002 – Played a peace match against Sri Lanka in war torned Jaffna,  where players were transported to the city in high security.

2003 – We reached our second final in the SAFF C’ship in Bangladesh and we lost on penalties. 

12-0 win against Mongolia in Male’

2004 – Fresh from their semi final appearance in 2002 World Cup, South Korea came to Maldives as hot hot hot favourites to win World Cup Qualifying game but a heroic performance from IMRAN lead to a goalless draw to shock the world. Undoubtedly the biggest acheivement for Maldives in international football.

In the away game a spirited South Korean side desperate to heal the embarrassment managed to beat Maldives by 2-0, once again the star of the match was IMRAN.

2005 – Maldives was beaten in the semi final of SAFF championship by India. Maldives started the campaign with 9-1 win against Afghanistan.

2008 – Won SAFF Championship after a dramatic 1-0 win against India in Sri Lanka

2009 – Reached back to back final in the SAFF Championship but lost to India on penalties in the final. 

2011 – Reached semi final of SAFF Championship but lost 3-1 against India. 

Iran who beat Maldives 17-0 in 1997 was only managed to get a 1-0 win in Male’

2012 – Beat Syria 2-1 in the Nehru Cup

2013 – Beat Sri Lanka 10-0 to earn Maldives’ biggest away win.

2014 – Won third place in AFC Challenge Cup where IMRAN saved two penalties and scored one to beat Afghanistan. 

2015 – Qatar, the host of 2022 World Cup, beat Maldives 1-0 in the most controversial fashion as Qatar scored the winner 2 minutes past the extra time given by the referee.

2016 – Played his last game for Maldives national team in Laos. A 1-1 draw that gave Maldives 5-1 aggregate win to earn Maldives a place in 2019 Asian Cup Final Qualifying round. 

NOTE: Imran Mohamed’s achievement in club football is as extraordinary as the player himself. To name few, he won President’s Cup three years in a row twice; first with Victory and then with New Radiant. Finished season 2013 with a 100% winning record winning all tournaments and reaching AFC Cup quarter finals. 

11x President’s Cup

3x FA Cup

7x Dhivehi League 

3x Male’ League

3x Cup Winners’ Cup

6x Charity Shield

Now take a moment to ask the question, what has Imran done for Maldivian football? 

Photo: Imran, as a teenager, just before his first game for Maldives national team and continued to occupy the position until he retires in 2016. 

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