Google fetes Malaysia’s ‘SuperMokh’ with doodle

Malaysia's football legend, the late Mokhtar Dahari, is today honoured by internet giant Google, with a "Google Doodle" bearing his image to mark his birthday.

Mokhtar, who died in July 1991, would have turned 61 today.

Google Doodle is a modified version of the Google logo on its search homepage, reminding surfers of important dates, often customised for its country specific homepages.

Mokhtar, who played for Selangor and the national team, was Malaysia's best known football hero from 1972 to 1985 and was one of Asia's best players in the 1970s.

It was during his era that the Malaysian team reached its glory days, defeating such giants as South Korea and Japan.

After scoring a total of 320 goals in his career, Mokhtar, or SuperMokh as he was known, retired in 1986, but briefly reappeared on the field to play for Selangor the next year.

He was also remembered for his goal-scoring skill during a match with the late Bobby Robson's England B team in 1977, when he scored a goal from a little past the half way line to end the game with a 1–1 draw. England's number three goalie at the time, Manchester City's Joe Corrigan, could not stop the blistering shot from Mokhtar.

He died after a three-year battle with motor neurone disease, which is also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, as it was named after a famous baseball player in the United States who died at an early age from the same disease.

Mokhtar's final days have been documented by the The National Geographic Channel in "The Untold Truth About Supermokh".

It has only been in recent years that his legacy has been recognised officially in Malaysia. The latest being the renaming of the National Football Academy in Gambang, near Kuantan, Pahang, to the Mokhtar Dahari National Fooball Academy. in April this year.

Also earlier this year, a long stretch connecting Shah Alam and Puncak Alam in Selangor was renamed to Persiaran Mokhtar Dahari. – November 13, 2014.