Samuel Gordon

Gordon Samuel (born 1922) was a Burmese footballer who played as a forward. He played for the Burma national team in the 1950s.

Early life Samuel was born in 1922 in Burma province of British India. He belonged to the Anglo-Burmese community.

Club career Samuel was a part of the Customs team in the 1950s.

International career In 1952, Samuel was called up to the Burma national team for their participation in the 1952 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament. The following year, Samuel would participate in the 1953 edition, where he scored a hat-trick in Burma's opening match at the tournament. He became the second player to score a hat-trick in the competition, after Sheoo Mewalal. The same tournament, Samuel would score against India in a 2–4 loss, this would crown him as the top goal-scorer of the tournament, helping Burma achieve a third-place finish behind Pakistan and India. The team would make it to the semi-finals, but failed to advance due to a 2–2 draw against South Korea. This game would result in an advancement for the South Koreans, due to them having a more superior overall goal-average than Burma. In this consolation round, Burma would come in second place, with Samuel scoring against Thailand. Around the same time, Hapoel Petah Tikva, an Israeli football team which was touring asia, visited Burma as a part of their tour. Their last match of the tour was against the national team, in the match, Samuel managed to find the net in the 41st minute, helping his team win the match 3–2.

The following year, he was included in the squad for the 1958 Asian Games, in which he scored a goal against Indonesia in a 2–4 loss.

Personal life During the Second World War, Samuel served in the regular Burma Intelligence Corps, gathering information on enemy troop movements. After missing the evacuation from Burma, he trekked to India on foot over 17 days through a war zone. Following the war, he returned to Burma, where he worked as a customs officer. There he met Doris, whom he married on 29 December 1948.

25 May 1958 Tokyo, Japan

1958 Asian Games