Muhammad Shariff bin Abdul Samat (5 January 1984 – 10 February 2020) was a Singaporean international footballer.[1]
 Shariff speaking with the press after Woodlands Wellington's match against Home United on 5 March 2013. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Muhammad Shariff bin Abdul Samat | ||
| Date of birth | 5 January 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Singapore | ||
| Date of death | 10 February 2020 (aged 36) | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003 | Sembawang Rangers | 17 | (0) |
| 2005 | Home United | 1 | (0) |
| 2006 | Young Lions | 11 | (0) |
| 2007–2009 | Tampines Rovers | 70 | (1) |
| 2010 | Home United | 13 | (0) |
| 2011 | Hougang United | 22 | (0) |
| 2012 | Admiralty | 8 | (2) |
| 2012 | Tampines Rovers | 0 | (0) |
| 2013 | Woodlands Wellington | 11 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Tampines Rovers | ||
| 2016 | Geylang International | ||
| International career‡ | |||
| 2013 | Singapore | 1 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 July 2013 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 4 June 2013 | |||
Shariff is the son of former Singaporean international Samad Allapitchay[2] and like his father, he usually played as a centre-back.
Club career
editShariff previously played for S.League clubs Sembawang Rangers FC, Young Lions and Tampines Rovers FC.
He was brought into the Tampines Rovers squad from the Young Lions after a stint with Sembawang Rangers FC, largely as a back-up player for the 2007/2008 highlighting season. However, due to teammate Sead Muratovic's failure to pass the annual fitness test, he became a major part of the first team's fixture in the S-League. He then joined Home United FC in 2010.
He was also known as a hot-tempered player, and was once handed out an eight-month ban by the Football Association of Singapore for throwing a punch at a Geylang United FC player, Peter Bennett in a S-League match when he was a Sembawang Rangers FC player.
Shariff spent half a season in the NFL Division 2 side Admiralty FC during the first half of 2012, and it was announced that he would rejoin S.League side Tampines Rovers for the second half of their 2012 season. However, he failed to break into the squad and was released at the end of the season.
On 2 February 2013, Shariff was unveiled as a Woodlands Wellington player during the team's pre-season fanfare.[3]
He made his debut for the Rams on 5 March 2013 in an away game against his former club, Home United FC.[4] Shariff put in an outstanding performance against the Protectors, his clearance off the line of Masato Fukui's shot being heralded as the turning point of the game by Woodlands coach, Salim Moin, during the post-match conference.[5]
Shariff rejoined Tampines for the 2014 season but was not retained for the 2015 season and played for another NFL side Singapore Recreation Club that year. He then was signed by Geylang International for the 2016 season,[6] but was released at the end of the season.[7]
International career
editIn 2008, under Radojko Avramović, Shariff was called up for matches against North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. However, he did not play in all of them.
In 2013, Shariff was called up by Bernd Stange because of his impressive performances for Woodlands Wellington in the S.League. He made his international debut on 4 June 2013, coming on as a substitute against Myanmar in a friendly match in Yangon.[8]
Personal life and death
editOn 31 May 2001, Shariff, then 17 years old, encountered the 8-member gang 369, known as Salakau, who attacked him and his two other friends while they were walking along South Bridge Road, having mistook them as members of their rival gang Sakongsa (303). The gang killed one of his friends, then-17-year-old football player Sulaiman bin Hashim (with whom Shariff was close to). During the attack, Shariff, who was named Muhammad Shariff bin Abdul Samat in court documents at that time, was stabbed on the back but survived. Despite being stabbed, Shariff managed to escape to the nearest police station with his other friend (another footballer, Mohammed Imran bin Mohammed Ali) to inform the police. He was hospitalised and later discharged on 2 June 2001. Six of the attackers were eventually arrested, jailed and caned for rioting and culpable homicide, but the remaining two assailants remain at large till this day.[9] The case was re-enacted in local crime show True Files, which features the death of Sulaiman and the murder trial of the Salakau gang members. Shariff, a survivor and witness of the attack, was portrayed by actor A.L. Imran. He was addressed solely by his given name in the episode to protect his real identity.[10]
On 10 November 2015, Shariff assaulted his brother-in-law over an incident. He later pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to his brother-in-law and on 24 May 2016, he was sentenced to 2 weeks' imprisonment. The crime he was found guilty of would have led to him jailed up to two years and fined $5,000.[11]
On 10 February 2020, Shariff died of a heart attack at the age of 36.[12][13]
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of 16 July 2013
| Club Performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore | S.League | Singapore Cup | League Cup | |||||||||
| Club | Season | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | 
|
|
|
Apps | Goals |
| Tampines Rovers | 2009 | 24 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 24 (2) | 1 |
| Home United | 2010 | 12 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12 (1) | 0 |
| Hougang United | 2011 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| Singapore | NFL Division 2 | Singapore FA Cup | ||||||||||
| Club | Season | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | - | - |
|
|
|
Apps | Goals |
| Admiralty FC | 2012 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| Singapore | S.League | Singapore Cup | League Cup | |||||||||
| Club | Season | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
|
|
|
Apps | Goals |
| Tampines Rovers | 2012 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Woodlands Wellington | 2013 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0 |
- All numbers encased in brackets signify substitute appearances.
International appearances
edit| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4 June 2013 | Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar |  Myanmar |
2–0 | International Friendly | ||||||
| Updated as of 4 June 2013. | |||||||||||
Honours
editIndividual
edit- S.League Young Player of the Year: 2007
References
edit- ^ "Shariff set for S.League return". Axross The Line. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013.
- ^ "Hougang captain gives his side of the story". AsiaOne News.
- ^ "Woodlands Wellington Unveil Top Local Signing, Shariff Samat". Woodlands Wellington Football Club.
- ^ "Profligate Protectors sink to home defeat". Goal.com Singapore. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Lee Lim Saeng: I think I can't sleep tonight". Goal.com Singapore.
- ^ "Geylang Signs Veteran Striker Indra Sahdan - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
- ^ "From the NFL to the S.League: The ones who did it | FourFourTwo". www.fourfourtwo.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018.
- ^ "Stange starts Singapore reign with victory in Myanmar". Goal.com Singapore.
- ^ "Stabbed, Samad's son: It hurts too much". National Library Board. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "True Files S4 Ep 12". meWATCH. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
- ^ "Geylang's Shariff jailed for attack on relative". The New Paper. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ Kwek, Kimberly (10 February 2020). "Football: Former Singapore international Shariff Samat dies at 36". The Straits Times. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "Football: Tampines Rovers ready for busy year; next up is Indonesia's Makassar in AFC Cup". The Straits Times. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
External links
edit- Shariff Abdul Samat at National-Football-Teams.com
- Shariff Abdul Samat at Soccerway