Malaysia international winger Arif Aiman has had an impressive week, scoring seven times in two matches for club and country. Both Papua New Guinea and Selangor FC were unable to stop Aiman as he ran rampant against them, with PNG conceding four and Selangor conceding three to the Johor Darul Ta’zim winger. Aiman’s impressive performances drew the attention of respected Malaysia coaches Azraai Khor, Irfan Bakti, and K. Rajagopal, who all sang praises about him.
“This boy has a good attitude and focus. If you look at his recent performances with the national team, he really stands out. In the new generation of players in Malaysia, he is among the best,” said Azraai, as quoted from both Bernama and The Star,
A respected figure in Malaysian football, Azraai had taken charge of several teams in the country, guiding Kedah FA to their legendary “double treble” in 2006/07 and 2007/08 as well as winning Negeri Sembilan FA a Malaysia Cup in 2011 and guiding Kelantan FA to the final of the same competition in 2015.
“It is rare to see a local player with ability like him. Credit must also be given to JDT and I agree that he is the best player in Asia in the making,” continued Azraai.
Former FELDA United and Terengganu FA head coach Irfan Bakti shared Azraai’s sentiment. Irfan, now head coach of Liga Super Malaysia side Kuching City FC, even compared Arif to Japanese prodigy Takefusa Kubo, who rose through the ranks of Real Madrid and is currently establishing himself at Real Sociedad.
“If he is from Japan or South Korea, he would be playing in Italy and Spain. If you saw his game yesterday, it was not much different from Kubo’s. The difference is that Kubo is left-footed while Arif is right-footed,” said Irfan, “Their skills are about the same, in terms of dexterity, dribbling, ball control and composure, but if you look at body swerve, it’s more to Arif. He is a natural and there is something special with Arif.”
Speaking in regards of Akademi Mokhtar Dahari (AMD) graduate Arif, former Malaysia national team head coach Rajagopal had this to say, “Arif has a great desire. I am interested in his game not only in the Malaysian League but in the AFC Champions League. It is not impossible for him to become the best player in Asia if he maintains his performance.”
“He can go far because those characteristics are already there such as the ability to absorb pressure in difficult situations and to make decisions. All of that makes me see that he has something special,” continued Rajagopal, who won Malaysia an AFF Championship back in 2010.
The three coaches agreed that Arif should follow in the footsteps of several ASEAN stars who are making a name for themselves outside the region, such as Indonesian duo Asnawi Mangkualam and Marselino Ferdinan, Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Toan and Nguyen Cong Phuong, Thailand’s Supachok Sarachat, Singapore’s Ilhan Fandi, and Malaysia’s very own Luqman Hakim.
“He needs to further develop his career abroad because he is still young,” said Azraai.
“With his current ability, he deserves to play in the highest league competition. After the late Mokhtar Dahari and Datuk Soh Chin Aun, there is no other Malaysian player of such quality. Arif should go out and play abroad for his own good,” added Irfan.
“If he goes, he can make JDT and the country proud, everything is not impossible, I think if Park Ji-sung can play in Manchester United and some other South Korean players can play in England, why can’t we?” finished Rajagopal.