What’s Happening to Malaysian Football? After Faisal Halim was doused with acid, now Safiq Rahim and Akhyar Rashid are also attacked

What’s Happening to Malaysian Football? After Faisal Halim was doused with acid, now Safiq Rahim and Akhyar Rashid are also attacked

Three Malaysian footballers suffered accidents at the same time. Not surprisingly, the three of them received a terrible attack.

Faisal Halim, one of the Malaysian national team’s goal scorers against South Korea in the 2023 Asian Cup, was doused with acid by an unknown person. He suffered serious burns which reportedly reached level 4.

Then there is Akhyar Rashid. The Terengganu FC striker was the victim of a robbery and was hit on the head and leg and had to be stitched up.

Most recently there is Syafiq Rahim. The Malaysian footballer received terror in the form of an attack. Luckily, only his car was damaged while the player was training.

Three incidents that occurred in the near future made Malaysia move. Selangor FC created a campaign ‘Stop the Violence!’ and urges the relevant authorities to launch a thorough investigation.

“Stand with Faisal Halim. Stop the violence!” wrote the Selangor statement which, if translated into Indonesian, becomes “Stand with Faisal Halim. Stop the violence!”.

“There is no room for violence in the sport we love. Football is a sport that unites and does not divide us. Football players try and work hard for us,” continued the Selangor statement.

Many Malaysian netizens are now united in asking for justice and clarity. They condemned the acts of violence directed against football players.

“What happened? Who is angry with our football players to make this kind of thing?” wrote @Marchforward.

“The tragedy that befell Faisal Halim and Akhyar Rashid should be a black spot for Indonesian football fans. The perpetrators of this tragedy should not be forgiven,” wrote @thepatriotsasia.

Meanwhile, the football rivalry between the Indonesian and Malaysian national teams is known to have reached the grassroots. Supporters in stadiums and in cyberspace often argue about who is the best.

The echo of the success of the Indonesian National Team inevitably made Malaysian netizens make various comments, both positive and negative. One of them is from the X or Twitter account with the username @Onefootball.my.

According to @Onefootball.my, the Indonesian national team is still nothing compared to Malaysia. Because Harimau Malaya successfully held South Korea to a draw in the 2023 Asian Cup.

Therefore, @Onefootball.my claims that Malaysia is still above the Indonesian National Team as long as the Garuda Squad cannot at least hold South Korea to a draw.

As is known, South Korea almost lost to Malaysia in the 2023 Asian Cup. Son Heung-min et al. held to a 3-3 draw.

“Indonesia is in front of us. If Indonesia is really good, try playing against South Korea first,” wrote @Onefootball.my on its Twitter account.

“If you can’t draw, it means Malaysia is still above Indonesia.”

The Indonesian national team, on the other hand, is enjoying good times with Shin Tae-yong. After successfully progressing to the last 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup, Witan Sulaeman et al. managed to win two important matches against Vietnam.

The Indonesian national team beat Vietnam twice with scores of 1-0 and 3-0 respectively. Amazingly, the Red and White also broke the curse of never winning at My Dinh Stadium for 20 years.

The Indonesian national team has the opportunity to qualify for the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifications provided they can reap sweet results against Iraq and the Philippines.