KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 1 — Winning the ‘Best Goalkeeper’ award for the fifth time at the National Football Awards 2020 (ABK20) recently has spurred Farizal Marlias to continue his excellent form with Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) in the upcoming season.
The 34-year-old goalkeeper from Maran, Pahang, had previously won the title when representing Perlis in 2009, as well as another three with JDT in 2015, 2018 and 2019.
“I want to thank my family, wife, children, parents, friends and teammates, coaching staff and also the team management.
“Not to forget the Tunku Mahkota Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim who has always been behind me and in fact, always gives a positive aura to all of us in the team,”, said Farizal in a statement issued by the Malaysian Football League (MFL) today.
Sharing the spoils is his teammate, Muhammad Safawi Rasid, who was named the Best Midfielder for the second time since 2018.
The national winger had also been selected as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2018 and 2019, besides winning several other titles, namely Promising Young Player 2018, Best Striker 2019 and Most Popular Player 2019.
“Thank you for this award, and I would like to thank all members of my family and team involved,” said the player who hails from Dungun, Terengganu.
ABK20 which was held virtually on Wednesday due to the Covid-19 pandemic also saw JDT win three other titles, namely the Best Defender (Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak), Best Coach (Benjamin Mora) and the Best Team. — Bernama
