# Thanabalan Nadarajah (footballer, born 1943)

Thanabalan a/l Nadarajah (born in 1943) was a Malaysian former footballer. He is remembered for his contribution during the Merdeka Tournament in 1968. Malaysia won the trophy by beating Burma 3–0 in the final. Thanabalan scored one of the three goals. Thanabalan scored 20 international goals in 46 appearances for Malaysia.

## Career Overview

As a player, he mainly played for Selangor FA in the Malaysia Cup competition. He together with the late Abdul Ghani Minhat, M. Chandran and Abdullah Yeop Noordin among the squad players that helped Selangor to become runners-up in the 1967 Asian Champion Club Tournament.
He was also one of the three players who had scored four goals in a Malaysia Cup final after Lee Ah Loke(1952) and Abdul Ghani Minhat(1963) in 1968.
On 23 September 2011, he was awarded the special award by Ex-State & Ex-National Footballers Association of Malaysia for being a top scorer in the final of the Malaysia Cup competition.
In 2013, he was inducted in Olympic Council of Malaysia's Hall of Fame.

## Career Statistics
### International

    Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Thanabalan goal.
List of international goals scored by Thanabalan Nadarajah :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 2 September 1964 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Taiwan | — | 5-2 | 1964 Merdeka Tournament |
| 2 | 19 August 1965 | Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia | South Vietnam | — | 3-3 | 1965 Merdeka Tournament |
| 3 | 19 August 1965 | Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia | South Vietnam | — | 3-3 | 1965 Merdeka Tournament |
| 4 | 19 August 1965 | Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia | South Vietnam | — | 3-3 | 1965 Merdeka Tournament |
| 5 | 12 December 1966 | Bangkok, Thailand | India | — | 1-2 | 1966 Asian Games |
| 6 | 26 March 1967 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | — | 1-3 | 1968 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| 7 | 13 August 1967 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Hong Kong | — | 3-0 | 1967 Merdeka Tournament |
| 8 | 13 August 1967 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Hong Kong | — | 3-0 | 1967 Merdeka Tournament |
| 9 | 20 August 1967 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Thailand | — | 1-0 | 1967 Merdeka Tournament |
| 10 | 23 August 1967 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | South Korea | — | 1-3 | 1967 Merdeka Tournament |
| 11 | 16 November 1967 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | New Zealand | — | 2-8 | Friendly Match |
| 12 | 11 August 1968 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | India | — | 2-1 | 1968 Merdeka Tournament |
| 13 | 14 August 1968 | Ipoh, Malaysia | South Vietnam | — | 4-0 | 1968 Merdeka Tournament |
| 14 | 14 August 1968 | Ipoh, Malaysia | South Vietnam | — | 4-0 | 1968 Merdeka Tournament |
| 15 | 17 August 1968 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Thailand | — | 4-1 | 1968 Merdeka Tournament |
| 16 | 18 August 1968 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Burma | — | 1-1 | 1968 Merdeka Tournament |
| 17 | 25 August 1968 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Burma | — | 3-0 | 1968 Merdeka Tournament |
| 18 | 21 November 1968 | Bangkok, Thailand | Laos | — | 5-0 | 1968 King's Cup |
| 19 | 21 November 1968 | Bangkok, Thailand | Laos | — | 5-0 | 1968 King's Cup |
| 20 | 7 December 1969 | Rangoon, Burma | Laos | — | 2-1 | 1969 SEAP Games |

## Honours
### Selangor

* Malaysia Cup (7): 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971
* Malaysia FAM Cup (5): 1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1968
* Asian Club Championship runner-up: 1967

### International
#### Malaya U-20

* AFC Youth Championship runner-up: 1960

#### Malaysia

* Merdeka Tournament: 1968