This was the frank observation by another national footballing legend, Santokh Singh, who played alongside Mokhtar for both Selangor and the national squad in the 1970s and 80s.
Santokh believes no national player has ever surpassed, let alone reached, Mokhtar’s level of performance and goal-scoring abilities on the pitch.
“It was a nice goal but he (Faiz) is only a state player, not national. I hope he will play his best and get picked to represent Malaysia.
“Back then, they said in 10 years we will see another Mokhtar, but I still haven’t seen any,” he said in an interview with FMT.
Mokhtar was nicknamed Supermokh for his outstanding exploits for Selangor and Malaysia. He was known for making his opponents cower in fear with his speed, skills, and the power behind his kick.
His first international achievement came in the 1974 Asian Games, held in Teheran, Iran, where Mokhtar helped the national team win a bronze. He followed this with a gold for Malaysia in the Sea Games in 1977 and 1979.
In the 1970s too, Mokhtar established his name by helping Malaysia beat the likes of Japan, Kuwait and South Korea in the Merdeka Tournament, which was then an annual highlight in the Asian footballing calendar.
On top of that, in 1977, Mokhtar scored one of the most spectacular goals ever witnessed at the Merdeka Stadium in helping Malaysia secure a draw with the England B side, which was managed by the late Bobby Robson and which featured many future England World Cup stars.
Mokhtar also scored for Malaysia in a friendly match against Arsenal in 1975.
Santokh said Mokhtar’s loyalty and the discipline he showed on the field and even outside, were hard to compete with.
“He would always be on time for practice. And afterwards, he would practise on his own for another 30 minutes, or even up to one hour.”
Appreciate the 1972 national squad
Santokh, who used to play as a defender, also appealed to the government and the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to take better care of the 1972 national squad.
“What Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin did was good. He gave RM100,000 to Faiz, FAM gave RM50,000. But I want to tell FAM, please take a look at the 1972 team who went to the Olympics in Munich, Germany.
“Some of them are jobless, please give them some reward, that can help them,” Santokh said.
In 1972, Malaysia qualified for the Munich Olympics by defeating Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines during the qualifying round.
In the first round of the Olympic Games that year, Malaysia beat the United States 3-0. However, after losing to hosts Germany 3-0 and later Morocco, 6-0. Malaysia did not make it through to the next stage.
Santokh said deep in his heart, he hoped that former athletes who had brought glory to Malaysia would be appreciated with the government rewarding them with a pension, like how it is given to athletes who have excelled at the international level currently.
“If possible, pension should be given to these retired players. The government should look into this. It’s like a sign of appreciation for their contribution towards the country,” he added.