Thanabalan a/l Nadarajah (Malay pronunciation: [ʈhaɳa]; born 25 February 1995) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as forward for Malaysia Super League side Sabah and the Malaysia national team.[8][9] In 2013, Thanabalan signed five-year contract with Negeri Sembilan and featured in the Negeri Sembilan U-21 and later promoted to the senior team in 2014 and was given shirt number 32. During 2015 season, Thanabalan was allocated the number 33 shirt.[10]
Personal information | |||||||||||||
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Full name | Thanabalan a/l Nadarajah[1] | ||||||||||||
Date of birth | (1995-02-25) 25 February 1995 (age 27)[2] | ||||||||||||
Place of birth | Seremban Jaya, Malaysia[3][4] | ||||||||||||
Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[5] | ||||||||||||
Position(s) | Forward[6] / Winger | ||||||||||||
Club information | |||||||||||||
Current team | Sabah | ||||||||||||
Number | 12 | ||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||
2013 | Negeri Sembilan U-21[7] | ||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||
2014–2018 | Negeri Sembilan | 30 | (6) | ||||||||||
2017 | → Felcra (loan) | 13 | (4) | ||||||||||
2019–2021 | Kedah | 11 | (1) | ||||||||||
2020–2021 | → Perak II (loan) | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||
2021– | Sabah | 30 | (0) | ||||||||||
National team‡ | |||||||||||||
2013–2014 | Malaysia U-19 | 8 | (1) | ||||||||||
2015–2018 | Malaysia U-23 | 18 | (14) | ||||||||||
Honours
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 June 2018 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 January 2018 |
Thanabalan made his competitive debut for Negeri Sembilan against DRB-Hicom on 24 January 2014 in the Liga Premier home match at Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium. He played for 68 minutes before being replaced by Fauzi Nan.[11]
Thanabalan made his first appearance of the 2015 season as a substitute in Negeri Sembilan's opening Liga Premier match, a 1–1 draw at home against Kuantan.[12]
Originated from Kampung Sagga,[13] Rantau in the state of Negeri Sembilan, Thanabalan the oldest child of S. Nadarajah, who is paralysed from the chest down following a road accident in 2013 and V. Thirusundari who is a housewife.[14] He has a younger brother and a younger sister, Keeteswaran and Keerthikaa.[15] Thanabalan was part of the national team that qualified for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship that took place in China and he scored 2 goals in 3 appearances during the qualification matches.[16]
As a child Thanabalan regularly played football at school field of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil, Sungai Gadut, Seremban while trained by his own father.[17] He later furthered his education at Tunku Ismail Sports School in Johor.[18]
Thanabalan has a girlfriend who is studying law at a local college.[19]
Thanabalan made 6 appearances and 4 goals in 2017 Southeast Asian Games.[20] He also played in the final against Thailand which Malaysia lost 0–1 due to an own goal scored by Malaysian keeper Haziq Nadzli.[21]
Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
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Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
Malaysia | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
2014 | Negeri Sembilan | Malaysia Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | |
2015 | Malaysia Premier League | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | – | 16 | 3 | ||
2016 | Malaysia Premier League | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | ||
2018 | Malaysia Super League | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 12 | 3 | ||
Total | 30 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 6 | ||
2017 | Felcra FC (loan)[25] | Malaysia FAM League | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 4 | ||
Total | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | ||
2019 | Kedah | Malaysia Super League | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 16 | 1 | |
Total | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | ||
2020 | Perak II | Malaysia Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Career total | 54 | 11 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 11 |
# | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Goal Scored | Competition |
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1. | 20 March 2017 | Police Officers Club Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates | ![]() | 1–1 | 1 | Dubai Cup |
2. | 26 March 2017 | Theab Awana, Dubai, United Arab Emirates | ![]() | 3–1 | 1 | Dubai Cup |
3. | 13 July 2017 | Shah Alam Stadium, Malaysia | ![]() | 2–0 | 1 | Friendly |
4. | 19 July 2017 | National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand | ![]() | 3–0 | 1 | 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification |
5. | 23 July 2017 | National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand | ![]() | 2–0 | 1 | 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification |
6. | 16 August 2017 | Shah Alam Stadium, Malaysia | ![]() | 2–1 | 1 | Football at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games |
7. | 21 August 2017 | Shah Alam Stadium, Malaysia | ![]() | 3–1 | 2 | Football at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games |
8. | 26 August 2017 | Shah Alam Stadium, Malaysia | ![]() | 1–0 | 1 | Football at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games |
9. | 20 January 2018 | Kunshan Stadium, Kunshan, China | ![]() | 1–2 | 1 | 2018 AFC U-23 QF |
Malaysia U-23