National team captain Muhammad Safawi Rasid was clearly not happy with the psychological warfare that smacked of provocation by Singapore striker Ikhsan Fandi ahead of the clash between the two teams at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil here last night.
Malaysia recorded a 4-1 victory thus overtaking Singapore to qualify for the semi-finals as Group B runners-up of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup 2022.
Apart from being proud of every individual in the team who fought hard to achieve that important victory, Muhammad Safawi said the success was even sweeter as it put paid to the intention of the Lions squad players to ‘dance’ on the sacred turf of the Harimau Malaya.
“First of all, I am very proud of the players and especially the coach (Kim Pan Gon) who always motivates the team. For me, this victory is good because some Singaporean players wanted to dance tonight (yesterday), but it didn’t happen. This is Bukit Jalil, you can’t do it,” he said when met after the match.
Ikhsan, the son of legendary Singaporean striker Fandi Ahmad, had posted on his Instagram Story a picture of him and his younger brother, Ilhan, dancing to celebrate a goal when they beat Malaysia 2-1 in an international match at the Singapore National Stadium last March.
In his post before last night’s match, the BG Pathum United player who missed it due to injury wrote: “Was planning on dancing on em again! God had other plans @Ilhanfa we gon get through this.”
In the meantime, Muhammad Safawi was overjoyed when he won his first Causeway Derby as a national player by helping Malaysia end its losing streak against Singapore since November 2014.
“It’s not just me, the whole team is happy because we won not 1-0 but we won 4-1. It’s not easy to get four goals,” said the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) player who is on loan to Thai club Ratchaburi FC starting next season.
Meanwhile, he is still not satisfied with his performance even though he has collected five assists in four games including the two that were achieved yesterday.
He said that after not playing for a long time, the AFF Cup was the best stage to re-polish his name which had almost sunk.
“Alhamdulillah in this campaign I got five assists – it wasn’t easy so I’m proud of myself because I haven’t played in a long time and in this tournament I really want to make my name back,” said the 25-year-old player.
Malaysia, who were the champions in 2010, will face defending champions Thailand in the home and away semi-finals here this Saturday and at the Thammasat Stadium in Pathum Thani next Tuesday. The other semi-final action is between Vietnam and Indonesia.
Sources: BERNAMA.