KUALA LUMPUR: If there were 11 '"Arif Aimans" in the national football team, the FA of Malaysia (FAM) wouldn't have to rely on so many foreign-born players.
That is the thought of FAM deputy president Datuk Yusoff Mahadi.
Yusoff said winger Arif is in a class of his own and can be considered as impressive as the foreign aces.
In fact, Yusoff said Arif's remarkable performance has set the benchmark for local players aspiring to be selected for the national team.
Indeed, Arif has been carrying the torch for Malaysian football with his stellar performance for his club, Johor Darul Ta'zim, in both the Super League and the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE).
The nippy Arif has scored three goals and recorded four assists in the Super League, and in the ACLE he is the second-highest scorer with three goals, just one behind Jasir Asani of South Korean club, Gwangju, who has four.
Yusoff stressed that the country's football development programme must be strengthened to ensure that talented players can at least reach the level of Arif.
"The development programme must continue, the players need to understand that they need to achieve a certain standard. For example, if they want to become national players, they need to be like Arif Aiman," said Yusoff.
"Arif has shown that he is on par with the foreign players. If we had 11 Arif Aimans, we wouldn't need to rely on foreign players anymore.
"But to reach this level, we need to build a team that can show they are capable of competing, and without competition, we won't be able to produce quality players from the process."