# Syamer Kutty Abba

Mohammad Syamer bin Kutty Abba (born 1 October 1997) is a Malaysia professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Malaysia Super League side Penang, on loan from Johor Darul Ta'zim and Malaysia national team, which he captains. He mainly plays as a box-to-box midfielder

## Early life

He was born into a Malayali family at Kampung Dodol, George Town, Penang. He went to Penang Free School.
Having made his Malaysia debut against Hong Kong in October 2017, he has gone on to make more than 20 appearances for his country. Mohammad Syamer Kutty Abba began his career at Penang in 2014. He moved to Harimau Muda C in December 2014.
His spell at Harimau Muda C didn't last long and in December 2015 he rejoined Penang, making 25 league appearances in 2 years. In November 2017 he joined Johor Darul Ta'zim, making 30 league appearances. During this time he also spent time on loan at Vilaverdense.

## Club career
### Harimau Muda C

Syamer began his senior career playing in FAM League, representing Harimau Muda C in the 2014 Malaysia FAM League.

### Penang

Since Harimau Muda has disbanded by FAM which means all the player from Harimau Muda A, Harimau Muda B and Harimau Muda C had to return to their own state. Syamer are with Penang FA for the Penang U21, before being promoted to first team in year 2016 to play in the top division of Malaysian football, the Malaysia Super League.

### Johor Darul Ta'zim

On 18 November 2017, Syamer signed a contract with Johor Darul Ta'zim.
In late January 2018, it was announced that Syamer was loaned out to Portuguese third division club Vilaverdense on 27 January for a year-long loan stint alongside Dominic Tan, a fellow player from Johor Darul Ta'zim. But it was confirmed in early May that his stay would be a lot shorter than planned. An article by FOX Sports Asia concluded that he would return to Johor in June 2018, only having been on loan for six months.
For the 2023 season, he changed his jersey number to 77 giving his former no. 5 to the captain, Jordi Amat.

## International career
### Youth

Syamer represented Malaysia at youth levels, playing for the under-17, -19, -20 and -23 levels.
In October 2017, Syamer received his first call-up to the Malaysia national team for the centralised training as a preparation for 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers Group B match against Hong Kong on 10 October 2017.

### Senior

Syamer made his debut for Malaysia on 10 October 2017 against Hong Kong in a 2–0 defeat in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers at the Hong Kong Stadium.
On 4 November 2018, he was named in the Malaysian national team squad for the 2018 AFF Championship.
On 27 May 2022, Syamer scored his first international goal against Brunei in a friendly match held at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
Syamer is also part of the Malaysian team that qualified for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and played all 3 matches against Turkmenistan, Bahrain and Bangladesh in Third Round Group E Qualification. Syamer is also part of the squad that make it to the 2023 AFC Asian Cup making two appearances in the tournament against Bahrain and South Korea.
In the 2024 ASEAN Championship, Syamer was named as the captain of Malaysia for the tournament.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 19 July 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Penang | 2016 | Malaysia Super League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 4 | 0 |
| Penang | 2017 | Malaysia Super League | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 23 | 0 |
| Penang | Total | Total | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 27 | 0 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2018 | Malaysia Super League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2019 | Malaysia Super League | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2020 | Malaysia Super League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2021 | Malaysia Super League | 15 | 1 | – | – | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 1 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2022 | Malaysia Super League | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2023 | Malaysia Super League | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | 43 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 69 | 1 |
| Vilaverdense (loan) | 2017–18 | Campeonato de Portugal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 |
| Vilaverdense (loan) | Total | Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim II | 2018 | Malaysia Premier League | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim II | 2020 | Malaysia Premier League | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim II | 2022 | Malaysia Premier League | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim II | Total | Total | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 72 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 100 | 1 |
* ↑ Includes Malaysia FA Cup
* ↑ Includes Malaysia Cup
* ↑ Includes AFC Champions League and AFC Cup

### International

    As of 4 September 2024.
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Malaysia | 2017 | 2 | 0 |
| Malaysia | 2018 | 10 | 0 |
| Malaysia | 2019 | 7 | 0 |
| Malaysia | 2021 | 4 | 0 |
| Malaysia | 2022 | 7 | 1 |
| Malaysia | 2023 | 3 | 0 |
| Malaysia | 2024 | 4 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 37 | 2 |

### International goals

| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1. | 27 May 2022 | Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Brunei | 2–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 2. | 4 September 2024 | Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Philippines | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2024 Merdeka Tournament |

## Honours
### Club
#### Johor Darul Ta'zim

* Malaysia Super League: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
* Malaysia FA Cup: 2022, 2023
* Malaysia Cup: 2019, 2022
* Malaysia Charity Shield: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

### International

Malaysia
* AFF Championship : 2018 runner up
* Pestabola Merdeka: 2024
Malaysia U-23
* Southeast Asian Games Silver Medal: 2017

### Individual

* AFF Best XI: 2019