STRIKER Safawi Rasid may be rated as the most valuable player in Malaysian football but he has yet to score a goal in the national team’s march to the AFF Cup semi-finals.
But the JDT ace said he is still satisfied with his performance in the regional competition.
In four matches for Malaysia, he came closest to scoring his first goal in the AFF Cup during Saturday’s 3-0 win against Myanmar in their final Group A match.
It was a near miss in the 82nd minute after he dribbled superbly past the Myanmar defence before unleashing a stinging shot.
Though his name is not on the score chart yet, the 21-year-old, who was recently voted the M-League’s Most Valuable Player for the 2018 season, is quite happy with his performance.
“I am quite satisfied with my performance so far. Even though I didn’t score, I helped the team to win,” he said.
“In our earlier two or three matches, we received a lot of complaints (about the team’s performance). But this time we did well because I can see that we are starting to gel,” he said.
Safawi, who played in front of a sold out crowd for the first time in his career (against Myanmar), was thankful to the fans being their 12th man, and he hopes they will play a pivotal role again in the semi-finals against Thailand.
On the first leg of the semi-finals against Thailand in Bukit Jalil on Saturday, Safawi said: “Our coach (Tan Cheng Hoe) told us that we need to be disciplined in our approach.
“Myanmar played counter attacks agianst us but we were prepared plus our defensive line was solid,” he said.