Merlion Cup 1986

All matches at the National Stadium at Kallang.

Group Stage

24- 8 China 0-0 North Korea
24- 8 Singapore 0-1 Canada
[Igor Vrablic 5' pen]
25- 8 Canada 5-0 Malaysia XI
[Lyndon Hooper 36', Igor Vrablic 41' 62', Lucio Ianiero 45', K.Gunasegaran 69' OG]
[Note: the fifth goal is also attributed to Pat Cubellis]
25- 8 China 3-0 Indonesia XI
[Ma Lin 28', Liu Haiguang 33', Mai Chao 78' pen]
26- 8 Singapore 4-0 Malaysia XI
[V.Sundramoorthy 25', Salim Moin 34', Malek Awab 45', Razaly Saad 51']
26- 8 North Korea 2-1 Indonesia XI
27- 8 Canada 0-0 North Korea
28- 8 China 4-0 Malaysia XI
[Jia Xiuquan 38', Ma Lin 57', Li Hui 69', Liu Haiguang 88']
28- 8 Singapore 8-1 Indonesia XI
[K.Kannan 4' 59', Ishak Saad 29', V.Sundramoorthy 43' 65', Malek Awab 52' 77',
Salim Moin 75' / Fachri Husaini 61']
30- 8 Canada 4-0 Indonesia XI
[Igor Vrablic 4', Chris Chuedan 16', Alex Bunbury 29', Lucio Ianiero 47']
30- 8 Singapore 0-2 North Korea
[Kim Chang-Bok 44', Yong Jong-Su 57']
31- 8 China 1-0 Canada
[Ma Lin 30']
31- 8 North Korea 4-0 Malaysia XI
[Kim Jong-Man 3' 30' 65' 78']
1- 9 Indonesia XI 2-2 Malaysia XI
[Suharto 33' 75' / Kamaruddin Abdullah 48' 78']
1- 9 Singapore 0-3 China
[Tang Yaodong 40', Mai Chao 64', Li Hui 74']

1.China 5 4 1 0 11- 0 9
2.North Korea 5 3 2 0 8- 1 8
3.Canada 5 3 1 1 10- 1 7
4.Singapore 5 2 0 3 12- 7 4
5.Indonesia XI 5 0 1 4 4-19 1
6.Malaysia XI 5 0 1 4 2-19 1

Notes: the Indonesian team was the amateur club PS Bina Taruna Jakarta; Indonesia was
invited to send a team after Yugoslavia withdrew. The Malaysian team was a hastily assembled
selection of available players, mainly from the Selangor and Federal Territory state teams.
The FA of Malaysia received the invitation only on the eve of the tournament, after Thailand
had withdrawn. The other four teams were the senior national teams. All Canada's matches are
considered full internationals for their association. China's matches are also considered
full internationals by their association, although some Chinese sources exclude the match vs
Malaysia.

Semifinals
3- 9 Singapore 1-2 China AET
[Razali Saad 27' / Tang Yaodong 63', Qin Guorong 93']
4- 9 North Korea 2-0 Canada
[Yun Jong-Su 56', Kim Jong-Man 78']

Third Place Match
6- 9 Singapore 0-1 Canada
[Alex Bunbury 73']

Final
6- 9 China 2-1 North Korea
[Qin Guorong 13', Ma Lin 53' / Kim Pung-Il 50']
[sent off: Yu Song-Chol 70']

Squads

Canada squad:
Coach: Bob Bearpark
Players: Paul Dolan*, Don Ferguson, Greg Kern, Randy Ragan*^, Paul James*, Dave Norman*,
Jamie Lowery*, John Hughes, Mike Sweeney*, Lyndon Hooper, Hector Marinaro, Iain Baird,
Alex Bunbury, Chris Chueden, Lucio Ianiero, Igor Vrablic*, Pat Cubellis.
* member of the 1986 World Cup squad
^ Randy Ragan had to return to Canada on 1st September to begin law school in Toronto.
The squad was the strongest available; several senior players had club commitments in the Major
Indoor Soccer League (USA), or in Europe. The team was in transition following the 1986 World
Cup, after which the coach Tony Waiters and a couple of senior players had retired.

China squad:
Coach: Nian Weisi
Players: Chen Dong, Li Hui, Qin Guorong, Shen Xiangfu, Ma Lin, Liu Zhongchang, Liu Haiguang,
Tang Yaodong, Xu Jianping, Lu Jianren, Zhu Bo, Shan Chunji, Jia Xiuquan, Gao Sheng,
Guo Yijun, Lu Hongxiang, Mai Chao, Duan Ju.
The same squad represented China at the 1986 Asian Games in South Korea.

Malaysia squad
Manager: S.Anthonysamy
S.Krishnamoorthy, Ristomoyo, K.Gunasegaran, S.Loganathan, Michael Palani,
Too Sen Fee, Karim Pin, S.Rajagopal, Azlan Johar, Kamaruddin Abdullah, Tarmizi Ali,
P.Dharmarajan, Tang Siew Seng*, Mat Zan Mat Aris*, Ramlan Askolani*, Hassan Sani*,
Ahmad Sobri+, Muhidin Husin^
The majority of the squad was from Selangor. Players from other teams are indicated:
* Federal Territory, + Kedah, ^ Johor.
The FA of Malaysia was only invited to send a team on 23rd August. With the senior national
team away on a training programme in Europe, and the Malaysian Tigers recently disbanded
following the Indonesian Indepedence Tournament in Jakarta, the FAM had to hastily assemble
a selection of available players. The squad left Malaysia at 1pm on 25th August, and played
their opening match vs Canada the same evening.

Corruption

In 1987 two Singaporeans (Joseph Rodrigues Dinnis and Wan Chong Yoong) were jailed for six months
for attempting to bribe the Indonesian team to lose to Singapore by a specific margin. Wan appealed
and lost; his sentence was doubled. The Indonesians had informed the Singapore FA on the day before
the match, and they liaised with the CPIB to lay a trap. Several men were arrested from the hotel
in which all six teams were staying, and many players were questioned. The following day the
Indonesians lost the match 8-1, their players having been up all night answering questions to
assist the authorities.

In November 1987, Igor Vrablic, Dave Norman, Hector Marinaro, and Chris Chueden were charged
by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) with accepting bribes totalling approximately
$100,000 during the tournament. Allegedly, the players had agreed to throw the semifinal match
vs North Korea. The charges were raised after Paul James admitted accepting a bribe; he said he
had been approached by the other four players to join the plot during a game of cards, and had
initially agreed, but had then changed his mind and given his share of the money back to the
others. He then confessed to Randy Ragan (who had returned to Canada after the group stage)
about the plot. Ragan asked former national captain Bruce Wilson for advice, and he in turn
asked former national coach Tony Waiters, who informed the Canada Soccer Association. The CSA
informed the RCMP, and a formal police investigation began on 8th December 1986. The investigation
found that large sums of cash had been deposited in the bank accounts of all four accused players
shortly after their return. Norman also bought a house in Coquitlam shortly after his return.
Upon questioning by the RCMP about where he obtained the deposit for the house, Norman confessed
to accepting the bribes in Singapore, although he later claimed this confession was made under
duress. The preliminary court hearings in December 1987 were adjourned until 16th December 1988.
After a few days of the hearing, the judge ruled that the Criminal Code could not be enforced
outside Canada, and that the alleged bribes overseas were therefore outwith the court's jurisdiction;
the criminal charges were dropped. However, the CSA began procedures to obtain legal authority
in order to conduct its own internal investigation and discipline the players. On 24th November
1989, the Ontario Divisional Court ruled that the CSA did indeed have this authority. On 13th
May 1990 the four accused players were banned indefinitely from the national team, and suspended
from all football for one year by the Canada Soccer Association. According to FIFA rules, this
suspension applied globally, although Marinaro was able to exploit legal loopholes to continue
playing in the Major Indoor Soccer League despite the suspension. After serving his suspension,
Dave Norman successfully appealed against his ban from the national team, and played for Canada
again in 1992. Marinaro was eventually recalled to the Canadian national team in 1995. Chueden and
Vrablic never played for Canada again - their careers were effectively ended by the suspension.

The Merlion Cup was not held again until 1991.

Overview

1985

1991

About this document

Sources: Xinhua General News, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, New Straits Times, Canada Soccer Association, YANSFIELD, Tempo Magazine

Thanks to Bojan Jovanovic

Prepared and maintained by Neil Morrison for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Author: Neil Morrison
Last updated: 30 Jun 2021