Mohd Shakir Shaari

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Personal information
Mohd Shakir Shaari
Full name	Mohd Shakir Shaari
Date of birth	September 29, 1986 (1986-09-29) (age 21)
Place of birth	Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder
Club information
Current club	UPB-MyTeam FC
Number	8
Youth clubs
	Kelantan FA
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2004 2005-2006 2006-present	Kelantan FA MPPJ FC UPB-MyTeam FC
National team
2007-present	Malaysia U-19	? (?)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of December 10, 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Mohd Shakir Shaari (born in September 29, 1986 in Kota Bharu, Kelantan) is a Malaysian footballer who is currently an Attacking Midfielder for UPB-MyTeam FC.

[edit] Career

Typical campista playmaker great in one match, invisible in the next. The Kelantanese Shakir is dubbed “Deco” for his exquisite ball control, distribution and technique. One of the country’s most exciting young players, Shakir was immediately grabbed by MyTeam 2006-07 season and featured prominently in the promotion winning campaign.

The average built midfielder from Kota Bharu, Kelantan received his early education in SK Mulong 1, and quickly found his niche in football. He had much encouragement in the game from his brothers and represented the school at the Under-12 level, before progressing to the District level and eventually donned the Cik Siti Wan Kembang crest in the MSSM (Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia) championships that same year.

His pursuit of excellence in the game did not miss the attention of scouts during the age group MSSM championships thus leading to a place at the Bandar Penawar Sports School in Johor when he entered Form 1. He set his sights on becoming a professional player with his farmer father and housewife mother being equally supportive of his chosen ambition. In the Sports Schools Malaysia (SSM) championship, he again impressed and was selected to play in the Nike Cup for SSM. Things got only better for the playmaker and he was selected to represent Malaysia in the Nike Cup Asean level in Bangkok, in 2001.

In 2002, Shakir moved onto Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS), representing the country in the both the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Under-16 championships in Kuala Lumpur and the Under-17 championships in Vietnam. Upon completing his studies at BJSS, he returned to his home state Kelantan at the age of 18 and began representing Kelantan FA as a Malaysia President’s Cup player. In fact he even played in two of Kelantan FA’s matches in the M-League that year. At the Malaysia Games (Sukma) championships of 2004 in Negeri Sembilan, he once again represented Kelantan.

The following year Shakir moved to club side MPPJ FC, and trained regularly with the who’s who of Malaysian football as back then MPPJ FC were known as the ‘Chelsea of Malaysia’. He began his career there in the MPPJ FC's Malaysia President’s Cup squad, but eventually the youngster earned his place amongst the big boys, featuring regularly for the Malaysia Cup campaign that season in which MPPJ FC made it to the quarter-finals. His star continued to shine in 2005, receiving a National call-up for the Under-20’s.

In 2006, Shakir who chose to remain with MPPJ FC, found the going tough that year as the Klang Valley outfit continued to bring in more big name players thus denying him an opportunity to play. He simply could not break into the team, growing frustrated, and only started only two games throughout the season. However it was a different scenario in the national set-up, where he progressed to the Under-21’s, also known as the Olympic squad, rising up to skippering the side and the Malaysia Under-23 squad under B. Sathianathan. When the club side collapsed in financial mess later that year, Shakir was released and was immediately snapped up by UPB-MyTeam FC in October 2006.

In UPB-MyTeam FC’s debut season in the M-League, Shakir played a big part in the heart of midfield, being involved in 16 of the 20 matches in the Malaysia Premier League. It was a remarkable season for UPB-MyTeam FC, chugging their way up the standings to earn promotion to the Malaysia Super League, finishing runner-up. Unfortunately for Shakir that good dose of success did not rub onto national colours. He lost his place in the Malaysia Under-23 squad, but his exploits for UPB-MyTeam FC earned him a contract extension for 2007.

He will be featuring in the Malaysia Super League for the second time, and hopefully aims to make a bigger impact on Malaysia’s top level. A player with great natural potential, whom needs to use his limited opportunities to prove his quality, Shakir said “I hate to be benched but I know that’s the reality of football”.

Shakir is the eight child from a family of eleven and currently resides in Bukit Jalil.