After Malaysian football was left reeling at the end of last week as it was on the receiving end of a staggering punishment over their recently-naturalised heritage players, it was perhaps fitting that it would be a trio of homegrown talent to lift the doom and gloom.
Last Friday, Malaysia was rocked when FIFA’s disciplinary committee released findings alleging that seven players — who had featured in a 4-0 win over Vietnam in June’s AFC Asian Cup qualifiers — had used doctored documents to gain citizenship.
The septet was handed 12-month suspensions from all football-related activities for breaching Article 22 of the FIFA disciplinary code — pertaining to forgery and falsification — and fined 2,000 Swiss francs each, while the Football Association of Malaysia were also ordered to pay a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs.
FAM have already stated their intent to file an appeal, especially given the documents were in order enough for them to have been given approval to field the players originally.
If FIFA’s ruling is to stand, it could see Malaysia’s win over Vietnam overturned. It could also see Johor Darul Ta’zim face similar reversals, given they have fielded players in question as locals in a tournament such as the ASEAN Club Championship that has restrictions over the number of foreigners in a match-day squad.
The sanctions handed out by FIFA had wider-reaching ramifications given the players in question ply their across the world, including in LaLiga — where Facundo Garcés features for Alavés.
Nonetheless, the most repercussions have still come domestically given the aforementioned JDT, who have won the past 11 Malaysia Super League titles, have been regularly fielding the recently-signed João Figueiredo, Hector Hevel and Jon Irazábal.
But in their first outing since, JDT on Tuesday showed they could just be capable of coping with the losses as they resumed their AFC Champions League Elite campaign with a 0-0 draw against J1 League outfit Machida Zelvia.
It may not have been the most ideal result, especially considering they had already suffered a 2-1 loss to Buriram United in their campaign opener, but it was still a creditable display against quality opposition.
And perhaps the one thing that will be most heartening to the JDT faithful, and the wider Malaysian football community, is that — amid the ongoing saga — it was a three homegrown players that arguably shone the brightest.
Arif Aiman was always going to be among the Southern Tigers’ best performers.
Still only 23, the generational talent has already been named the FAM Football Awards’ Most Valuable Player for the past four seasons.
Despite his undeniable attacking prowess, Arif always admirably accepts whatever role he is entrusted with — even when given more defensive responsibilities as a wing-back on numerous occasions.
On Tuesday, as he was handed free rein as one of two out-and-out strikers as coach Xisco Muñoz tweaked his formation to a 5-3-2, Arif always loomed as JDT’s likeliest avenue to goal even if the match ultimately finished scoreless.
Arif’s position in the starting XI is never in doubt but it is in other areas of the field where competition has been red-hot.
It has meant that someone like Afiq Fazail, who is widely regarded as one of the most technically-gifted midfield technicians in Malaysia, has often had to bide his time.
Yet, having now started JDT’s last three games, the 31-year-old is certainly not about to spare any effort in seizing his opportunity.
Entrusted with the captain’s armband as well, Afiq is staking his claim to fill Hevel’s vacancy as a calming presence who excels at both ends of the field — even if he does not boast the dynamism of some of his peers in the engine room.
There was, however, no brighter light against Machida than Syihan Hazmi, who deserves every bit of recognition he gets from this display especially considering goalkeepers rarely get the spotlight.
While receiving his fair share of playing time on the domestic front, Syihan often has to settle for a reserve role on the continental stage — especially since the arrival of Andoni Zubiaurre last September.
As he did last week in a 4-0 rout of Bangkok United in the ASEAN Club Championship when Zubiaurre was absent, Syihan got the nod against Machida — with the Spaniard taking his place on the bench on his return to the side.
Like Afiq, Syihan would seize another opportunity with both hands.
His standout moment came after just 17 minutes when, after his defence failed to clear their lines from a corner, Syihan would rush off his line and make an excellent point-blank range save to deny Asahi Masuyama from inside the six-yard box.
The 29-year-old did benefit from a slice of good fortune when the visitors looked destined to open the scoring after being awarded a penalty three minutes later — only for Yuki Soma to smash his effort from 12 yards into the woodwork.
When he was next called into action, Syihan did well to make a smart parry down low after Henry Heroki Mochizuki had cut in from the right and looked to catch him out at his near post with a fierce drive.
Machida’s final glaring opportunity to snatch all three points would come on the hour mark when a counterattack led to another goal-mouth scramble. Just when two Machida players looked destined to force the ball home from close range, Syihan would fearlessly dive into a sea of flailing boots to halt the danger.
Of course, it should come as no surprise that this homegrown trio all played their roles in JDT earning a point on Tuesday.
After all, JDT’s pulling power means they often snap up the best talent in the land and there is no denying that the three players who starred against Machida are among the best in their position, even if — in the case of Afiq and Syihan — they do not always get to show it on a weekly basis.
Still, considering how Southeast Asian football has seen an influx of heritage and naturalised players being utilised to enhance quality at both club and national team level, and how last week’s sanctions by FIFA has brought some uncertainty to Malaysian football, it certainly helped that a JDT trio showed on Tuesday that there is still plenty of locally born-and-bred talent capable of excelling on the biggest stage the continent has to offer.
