KUALA LUMPUR: You can call Arif Aiman Hanapi the coolest kid on the field.
In his first World Cup qualifiers match, the winger hardly showed any nerves, instead, he was truly in his element.
The 21-year-old Johor Darul Ta’zim player dribbled past players and ran at breathtaking speed whenever he had the ball in Malaysia’s opening Group D match of the World Cup 2026-Asian Cup 2027 second-round qualifiers at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Thursday.
As a result, Arif was adjudged the best player of the game as he assisted all four goals to ensure Harimau Malaya beat Kyrgyzstan 4-3.
Arif’s corner led to the goals for Dion Cools’ double in the seventh and 77th minutes. For Kyrgyzstan’s Khristiyan Brauzman’s own goal in the 72nd minute, it was Arif’s dribble from the right and low-drilled cross that led to the situation.
The winner was a beauty as Arif dribbled past two players from the middle of the field, and after an interchange of play with substitute midfielder Endrick dos Santos, the youngster picked out Faisal Halim with a beautiful through pass in the 93rd minute.Kyrgyzstan’s goals were scored by wingback Zhyrgalbek Kayrat in the 41st minute, striker Ernist Batyrkanov (43rd) and substitute midfielder Kai Merk (56th).
Arif admitted that when the game was 1-3, he decided to give his all and used his best trait to win the game for Malaysia.
“As an attacker, you have to always be on the move, be enterprising. Dribbling is part of my game. If I do not have that, I’ve nothing to play on the field,” said Arif.
“I could not think of anything when we were hit three times but the fans and coaches got us going. At the same time, I could not believe we could come back against a side that is higher ranked than us. The win was important for us as it was the first game for the qualifiers. We were also thinking of world ranking as well.”
Captain Matthew Davies praised Arif and double goalscorer Cools for being the catalyst for Malaysia’s win.
“We had control of the game in the first half but lost focus in the last five minutes. But when we got the second goal, we felt we could do this. We got the win we deserved,” said the 28-year-old.
“I am super proud of the boys and special mention to Arif and Dion for their contributions. But all the boys put in a big shift.”
