He still recalls the thunderous applause of fans whenever he was in possession of the ball. But now he is a forgotten man.
The glory days of Krishnasamy Veloo, who represented Malaysia at the 1972 Munich Olympics, are long gone as he lies on a bed in an old folks home in Penang, with his left knee amputated due to diabetes. His eyesight and hearing are also fading.
At the Munich Olympics, Malaysia played three matches: losing to West Germany 3-0 and Morocco 6-0 while beating the United States 3-0.
Midfielder Krishnasamy didn’t see action in the two matches that Malaysia lost but he played in the one that Malaysia won, against the USA.
Today, he is sick, old, and tired. And financially burdened.
Krishnasamy, 72, who retired as a sergeant major from the prisons department, is struggling to make ends meet on his government pension.
Recently, The Friendship Circle (TFC) raised RM5,000 for the forgotten hero.
TFC head G. Vivegandran said the group consist of many good hearted personalities, including Shebby Singh, Azraai Khor, Datuk N. Thanabalan, Datuk Hasnulhisham Yaakob, A. Rukkumaran, C. Nadarajan, Wong Kuw Fuw, K. Ravichandran, Mohammad Zakaria, Datuk M. Kuppan, Zainal Badry and Rahim Mohammad.
On receiving the contribution, a tearful Krishnasamy said he was grateful to the caring football fraternity who still remember him.