The rebirth of Safawi Rasid - Return to 2019 goalscoring form bodes well for Malaysia

Just one day short of four years since Safawi Rasid netted his first-ever senior international goal for Malaysia in an 2019 Asian Cup qualifier against North Korea, the Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) player claimed his first-ever hat-trick for his country in yesterday's 4-0 win over Laos.

The win, Malaysia's second in Group B now puts Harimau Malaya in a commanding position heading into a vital clash against Vietnam on Sunday 12 December, but equally as important was Safawi's welcome return to form after what has been a difficult 24 months for the attacker.

Before a worldwide pandemic, Safawi was in arguably the form of his life with 26 goals for club and country in 2019, including a spectacular brace against Indonesia in the last national team match that was played at Bukit Jalil National Stadium during a World Cup 2022 qualification match.

When the move came for a loan to Portuguese side Portimonense in the following year, almost everyone thought that he would make a good fist of the opportunity. While not expected to jump straight into the starting line-up, he was expected to get a good quantity of match time.

Yet the opposite happened as Safawi never got any chance to feature for the first team despite numerous times being named on the substitutes bench. And with that, his confidence and game took a massive hit, forcing him to cut short his loan deal and make a swift return to JDT.

Goal

Determined to recover lost time from that Portugal experience, Safawi started the 2021 season with a bang, scoring in the opening Super League encounter against Kedah Darul Aman, but then disaster struck soon after when he faced a long spell on the sidelines after picking up an injury against UiTM on MD3.

Safawi's loss was to be Arif Aiman's gain as the latter more than took up the mantle of his more illustrious compatriot and was even named as the Most Valuable Player of the 2021 Malaysian football season as Safawi struggled to cope with fleeting opportunities.

Only four goals for club and country were scored this year prior to the start of the 2020 AFF Suzuki Cup and going into the tournament, many played down the impact the left footer could have given the paucity of his contributions in the last 12 months.

But Tan Cheng Hoe kept faith with the 24-year-old and while it's only been two matches played, it would seem that the trust is being paid off as Safawi has already doubled his tally for the season and currently leads the goalscoring charts in the tournament.

"Congratulations to Safawi who we know has worked very hard for the national team for a long time and he got his rewards today," said Tan after the Laos match.

"I strongly believe that he has a good talent, is very disciplined in training and is very committed. Definitely as a coach, I have to give him the opportunity to improve.

"He’s one of the icons of the Malaysian football scene and he has to work very hard to stay at this level. Of course there’s room for improvement and he needs to be very focused in every match."

Goal

There will be bigger and tougher challenges than what Cambodia and Laos offered but at the same time, performance and results were needed against these two lesser sides in the group and Safawi did just that with his quadruple of goals.

Getting Safawi back to his dangerous best is vital to Malaysia's cause especially in the big games to come against Vietnam and Indonesia that will decide the fate of the team in this competition.

Goals bring confidence to any attacker and it was no different for Safawi who in the Laos game started showing again the joy of playing with some tricks, flicks and passing exchanges that were just a delight to watch.

The journey back to reaching the same heights he did in 2019 is not done yet but the early indications are that Safawi is well and truly on his way back!