Mohd Helmi Eliza Elias

Helmi Eliza Elias

Personal information
Full name	Mohd Helmi Eliza bin Elias
Date of birth	January 20, 1983 (1983-01-20) (age 28)
Place of birth	Alor Star, Kedah, Malaysia
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Kedah FA
Number	1
Youth career
2001	Kedah FA President Cup
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–	Kedah FA	57	(0)
National team‡
2008–	Malaysia	8	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of December 8, 2008

Mohd Helmi Eliza Elias (born 20 January 1983, Alor Star, Kedah) is a Malaysian footballer currently playing as a goalkeeper for Kedah FA and the former Malaysia national team.

Club career

He was a product of Kedah's youth system, and started in the junior, Kedah FA President Cup squad during the 2001 season, but it wasn't until 2006–07 that he debuted in the senior side, replacing Megat Amir Faisal Al Khalidi Ibrahim left for a new challenges with Selangor FA. And disappointing performance of Jamsari Sabian also made Helmi became the first choice goalie in Kedah's starting lineup beginning from 20 December 2006 in Super League match against Negeri Sembilan FA up until now.

The Malaysia FA Cup final on 30 June 2007 in Batu Kawan Stadium — Helmi helped Kedah FA won the second Malaysia FA Cup title after defeated Perlis FA. The match ended 0–0 and went to penalties, where Helmi saved two out of four penalties to gain the cup win with 4–2 result. After the match, he was awarded the "Man of the Match" award with a number of crucial saves in 120-minute play time.

On 23 August 2008, a few hours before the final Malaysia Cup 2007–08 reached its kick-off, Helmi were voted as the Most Popular Goalkeeper by fans in FAM Football Awards.^[1] He then conduced Kedah to retain Malaysia Cup after defeated Selangor 3–2.

International career

On 6 June 2008, Helmi was selected as goalkeeper for B. Sathianathan's first match in charge, a friendly against Indonesia. It was Helmi's first start for Malaysia after making a debut for Malaysia youth in early 2000s. Helmi has now firmly re-established himself as Malaysia's first choice goalkeeper, having started every match during Sathianathan's reign.

He also appeared for the Malaysia XI (also known as Malaysia B that represents Malaysia for non 'A' matches) squad against Chelsea F.C. at Shah Alam Stadium on 29 July 2008. Helmi could not stop Nicolas Anelka and Ashley Cole putting the Blues ahead. Even though they lost, Helmi will be remembered for a spectacular diving save to deny Deco's thunderous 25-yard volley. Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari praised the Malaysia XI for giving a good fight against his team.

In the 2008 Merdeka Tournament, Helmi has not conceded any goals in 390 minutes of playing time after Malaysia beat Nepal and Sierra Leone 4–0 respectively in the group stage. Malaysia the won 4–0 against Myanmar in the semi-final. Despite him not conceding after extra-time in the final against Vietnam, Helmi could not save any penalty kicks. As a result, it was Vietnam who came out victorious, beating Malaysia 6–5 in a sudden death penalty shoot-out after the teams had tied 0–0.

In 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup, Helmi was blamed by the media and fans because of his poor performance against Vietnam. In the match, Helmi conceded a long shot by Nguyen Vu Phong in the 86 minute as Malaysia lost 2–3 to Vietnam.^[2]

So far Helmi has played eight FIFA 'A' matches and three non 'A' matches for Malaysia.

Honours

Kedah

• Malaysia Super League: 2006–07, 2007–08
• Malaysia Premier League: 2002, 2005–06
• Malaysia FA Cup: 2007, 2008
• Malaysia Cup: 2007, 2008

Individual

• FAM Football Awards – Most Favourite Goalkeeper, Most Malaysian Valuable Players: 2007–08

Personal life

Helmi was married on 14 November 2008. ^[3]

References

1. ^ "Kedah kuasai anugerah bola sepak". Utusan Malaysia. 24 August 2008. http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/special.asp?pr=LigaM2008&y=2008&dt=0824&pub=LigaM2008&sec=Berita&pg=lm_02.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-24. (Malay)
2. ^ Vietnam edge past Malaysia with slim win
3. ^ "Helmi dikecualikan ke Myanmar". Utusan Malaysia. 29 October 2008. http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=1029&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Sukan&pg=su_10.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-29. (Malay)

• Mohd Helmi Eliza Elias at National-Football-Teams.com

Persondata
Name	Mohd Helmi Eliza Elias
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	20 January 1983
Place of birth	Alor Star, Kedah, Malaysia
Date of death
Place of death