KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 ― This is not the first time Harimau Malaya ace Muhammad Safawi Rasid has been dropped by Under-22 head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee from his squad.

In 2016, Kim Swee, who was then the head coach of the national squad, decided to leave Muhammad Safawi out of the squad for the AFF Cup, which saw Malaysia failing to reach the semi-finals.

Fast forward three years, and the Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the National Football Awards (ABK) for the years 2018 and 2019 is now at the pinnacle of his career, proving his quality at the international stage with the national team, as well as with Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) at the domestic level.

Being dropped from the national squad at the time was like a turning point in Muhammad Safawi’s career, as he came back much stronger, and Kim Swee now wants every young player to emulate the latter’s determination and character.

“If I’m not mistaken (Muhammad Safawi’s turning point was) at the 2016 AFF Cup, when I had dropped him. When he was dropped, he came back full of positivity, and never gave up. This really boosted his confidence.

“Every player should emulate Safawi, where when he failed or was dropped, he came back stronger, and now he is the best player in our country,” Kim Swee told Bernama.

The coach confirmed yesterday that Muhammad Safawi would not be listed in the national U-22 squad for the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, after having played a hectic schedule in the domestic league this season.

The former T-Team winger set an excellent record with JDT this season, with 20 goals and 10 assists over 3,088 minutes played in 37 games.

Muhammad Safawi is now the talking point for most football fans in the country, after scoring both of Malaysia’s goals in the 2-0 win over Indonesia in the Group G match of the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asia Cup qualifiers at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Tuesday night.

The victory helped the Harimau Malaya squad led by head coach Tan Cheng Hoe to complete the year on a high.

Kim Swee, who has coached Muhammad Safawi both with the national team and the U-22 squad said the national prodigy had a strong left foot, and often spent about 15-20 minutes extra on the field after training each day.

“We can see that Safawi is now at a different level, and this is not only the result of the coach's efforts, but Safawi's own confidence and dedication that has brought him to this level.

“He remains focused throughout the training session, but what sets him apart are his free-kicks, whereby he is determined to practice them every day after training.

“When we practice well, it (the free-kick) will most certainly ‘work’ in the game as well,” Kim Swee said.

Muhammad Safawi’s absence from the SEA Games squad has received many positive and negative reactions from local fans, but Kim Swee maintained that he only wanted the best for the player himself.

So with the latest “drop” from the squad, will local football fans see an even better performance from Muhammad Safawi in 2020? ― Bernama