{{Infobox International Football Competition | tourney_name = Merdeka Tournament | year = 1959 | othertitles = | image = | size = | caption = | country = Federation of Malaya | dates = 30 August – 6 September | num_teams = 7 | venues = 1 | cities = 1 | champion_other = {{fb|Malaya}} | count = 2 | second = India | third = South Vietnam | fourth_other = {{flagicon|Hong Kong|1959}} Hong Kong | matches = 14 | goals = 52 | attendance = | top_scorer = | player = | prevseason = 1958 | nextseason = 1960 }}
The '''1959 Merdeka Tournament''' was the third edition of the Merdeka Tournament which was an annual tournament hosted in Malaya. It took place from August 30 to September 6 with seven participating nations.
==First round== A series of knockout ties was held to determine which teams would compete in the second round. The match between South Vietnam and Singapore required a replay as the score was level at the end of the first match.
{{football box |date=30 August 1959 |team1={{fb-rt|South Vietnam}} |score= 3–2 |report= |team2={{fb|KOR}} |goals1= |goals2= |stadium= Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur |attendance= |referee= }} ---- {{football box |date=31 August 1959 |team1={{fb-rt|IND}} |score= 2–0 |report= http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19590901-1.2.110 |team2={{fb|SIN|1946}} |goals2= |goals1= Rahmatullah {{goal|52}}<br> Balaram {{goal|61}} |stadium= Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur |attendance= 20,000 |referee= }} ---- {{football box |date=31 August 1959 |team1=Hong Kong {{flagicon|Hong Kong|1959}} |score= 1–1 |report= |team2={{fb|JPN}} |goals1= |goals2= |stadium= Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur |attendance= |referee= }}
===Replay=== {{football box |date=2 September 1959 |team1={{fb-rt|JPN}} |score= 2–4 |report= |team2={{flagicon|Hong Kong|1959}} Hong Kong |goals1= |goals2= |stadium= Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur |attendance= |referee= }}
==Second round== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |- !width=175|Team !width=20|Pld !width=20|W !width=20|D !width=20|L !width=20|GF !width=20|GA !width=20|GD !width=20|Pts !Result |- bgcolor=#ccffcc |align="left"| {{fb|Malaya}} |3||2||1||0||7||5||+2||'''5''' |Champions |- |align="left"|{{fb|IND}} |3||1||2||0||5||3||+2||'''4''' | |- |align="left"|{{fb|South Vietnam}} |3||1||1||1||9||7||+2||'''3''' | |- |align="left"|{{flagicon|Hong Kong|1910}} Hong Kong |3||0||0||3||2||8||−6||'''0''' | |}
{{Football box | date = {{Start date|1959|9|2|df=y}} | team1 = {{fb-rt|Malaya}} | team2 = {{fb|South Vietnam}} | score = 4–3 }} ---- {{Football box | date = {{Start date|1959|9|3|df=y}} | team1 = {{fb-rt|IND}} | team2 = {{flagicon|Hong Kong|1910}} Hong Kong | score = 2–0 | report = http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19590904-1.2.113 | goals1 = Zulfiqaruddin {{goal|8}}<br/> Kannan {{goal|79}} | goals2 = | stadium = Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur | attendance = 11,000 }} ---- {{Football box | date = {{Start date|1959|9|4|df=y}} | team1 = {{fb-rt|Malaya}} | team2 = {{fb|IND}} | score = 1–1 | report = http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19590905-1.2.95 | goals1 = Robert Choe {{goal|60|pen.}} | goals2 = Kannan {{goal|63}} | stadium = Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur | attendance = 18,000 }} ---- {{Football box | date = {{Start date|1959|9|5|df=y}} | team1 = {{fb-rt|South Vietnam}} | team2 = {{flagicon|Hong Kong|1910}} Hong Kong | score = 4–1 }} ---- {{Football box | date = {{Start date|1959|9|6|df=y}} | team1 = {{fb-rt|Malaya}} | team2 = {{flagicon|Hong Kong|1910}} Hong Kong | score = 2–1 }} ---- {{Football box | date = {{Start date|1959|9|6|df=y}} | team1 = {{fb-rt|South Vietnam}} | team2 = {{fb|IND}} | score = 2–2 | report = http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19590907-1.2.110 | goals1 = Do Thoi Vinh {{goal|20||53}} | goals2 = Zulfiqaruddin {{goal|8}}<br/>Kannan {{goal|56}} | stadium = Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur }}
==Consolation round== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |- !width=175|Team !width=20|Pld !width=20|W !width=20|D !width=20|L !width=20|GF !width=20|GA !width=20|GD !width=20|Pts |- |align="left"| {{fb|JPN}} |2||1||1||0||4||1||+3||'''3''' |- |align="left"|{{fb|KOR}} |2||1||1||0||4||1||+3||'''3''' |- |align="left"|{{fb|SIN|1946}} |2||0||0||2||2||8||−6||'''0''' |}
{{football box | date = {{Start date|1959|9|2|df=y}} | team1 = {{fb-rt|KOR}} | team2 = {{fb|SIN|1946}} | score = 4–1 }} ---- {{football box | date = {{Start date|1959|9|3|df=y}} | team1 = {{fb-rt|JPN}} | team2 = {{fb|SIN|1946}} | score = 4–1 }} ---- {{football box | date = {{Start date|1959|9|5|df=y}} | team1 = {{fb-rt|KOR}} | team2 = {{fb|JPN}} | score = 0–0 }}
===Play-off=== {{football box | date = {{Start date|1959|9|6|df=y}} | team1 = {{fb-rt|KOR}} | team2 = {{fb|JPN}} | score = 3–1 }} ==References== *[https://www.rsssf.org/tablesm/merdeka59.html 1959 Merdeka Tournament] at RSSSF *{{cite web|url=http://www.indianfootball.de/specials/india/indianteam/1959merdekacup.html|title=The Indian Senior Team at the 1959 Merdeka Cup|website=www.indianfootball.de|publisher=IndianFootball|date=1999|last=Chaudhuri|first=Arunava|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180608085202/http://www.indianfootball.de/specials/india/indianteam/1959merdekacup.html|archive-date=8 June 2018}} (information given by Jaydeep Basu, Sunil Warrier, and Gautam Roy).
{{Pestabola Merdeka}}
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