Captain Najmi pays tribute to teammates’ hard work

PETALING JAYA: It has been like a dream for Najmi Farizal Jazlan after guiding the Speedy Tigers to victory at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup for the first time as a captain.

The 27-year-old Najmi was handed the armband after Marhan Jalil’s absence due to injury and the defender led Malaysia confidently to secure the crown after beating South Korea 3-2 in the final on Thursday.

It was Najmi’s second success after he had skippered the team to their first Indoor Asia Cup title in Bangkok in August.

Najmi said the Tigers deserved to win due to their hard work and determination.

“I’m thankful to coach (A. Arulselvaraj) for trusting me with the captain’s job and I’m still on cloud nine after winning the Cup,” said Najmi, who hails from Beseri, Perlis.

“I’m grateful to be part of this team as the players are united, disciplined and hardworking. We trust and fight for each other.”

Najmi added that their improved speed and power had been the key to their success.

“You need to be very fit and strong to play the modern game. Skills become secondary and our team had the physical strength to play against strong opponents like South Korea,” said Najmi.

“We managed to battle all the way and hung on when we had to play with 10 men in the last five minutes in the final.”

Key defender Razie Rahim was sent to the sinbin after receiving a yellow card and Najmi had to reorganise his team to hang on to the 3-1 lead at that point.

South Korea hit back with a penalty corner goal in the 57th minute to reduce the gap to 3-2 after Razie was out of the game and Najmi said it was a tense moment.

Malaysia had, in several past major events like the World Cup, Asian Games, Asia Cup and the Olympics, suffered agonising defeats due to conceding late goals but on Thursday, it did not happen.

“It was definitely a tense situation after losing the most experienced player and when the opposition scored within a minute,” recapped Najmi.

“I had to reorganise the defence and also give specific instructions to our players and they stuck to the gameplan. The players did not lose their discipline and stayed calm,” said Najmi.

Marhan would be the preferred skipper when he returns from injury but Arulselvaraj will be pleased to see that he has also found another capable leader in Najmi who will be able to guide the team admirably if called upon to take the captain’s armband again.