KUALA NERUS: Nippy winger Arif Aiman Hanapi admitted it's not easy to break into the national team, especially the first 11. And more so when more and more foreign-born players are coming in.
But the 21-year-old won't let himself fade into obscurity.
Despite being a bench player in Tuesday's international friendly against Papua New Guinea at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Arif stole the show with a four-goal burst in Malaysia's 10-0 win.
Though Malaysia paraded five foreign-born players, including two from Brazil, against Papua New Guinea, Arif was determined to make his presence felt.
Playing as a reserve, he had only half the match to impress coach Kim Pan Gon. Well, Arif was in full flow, finding the net in the 57th, 60th, 87th and 89th minutes. He even outshone the Brazil-born Paolo Josue who scored a hat-trick.
Following his brilliant show, the nippy Arif can stake a strong claim in the Malaysian first team for the Asian Cup in Qatar seven months from now.
Arif's goals in the past week couldn't have come sooner. After experiencing a drought for 15 matches with Harimau Malaya, Arif scored a penalty in the 4-1 win over Solomon Islands last week. And now his "fantastic four" show.
Arif, who earned his first international cap in a friendly against Kuwait on May 23, 2021 at the age of 19 years 19 days, now has five goals from 17 matches.
The Johor Darul Ta'zim player, twice winner of the Super League's Most Valuable Player award, said: "I don't think I can be satisfied with this win. I will work on improving my weaknesses.
"I will train harder to get into the starting 11, it's not easy to compete with the much more senior players."
On the Papua match, Arif said he didn't mind being a "second half player" as his focus was on helping Harimau Malaya.
"I'm proud of the win not because I scored four goals. I thank my teammates for their support.
"I don't see any difference in starting (first 11) or second half. The players did well in the first half. We were struggling a bit in the first half but the coach kept encouraging us and we were creating a lot of chances but we could not convert them.
"The others and I came in in the second half to help get a comfortable lead."