Striker Safiq Rahim and defender Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak are both veterans in the national squad, having started their international career with the U-23 squad which won the SEA Games football gold medal in 2009. They were also part of the team which won the AFF Suzuki Cup the following year.
The duo, both aged 29, also play for Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) in the Malaysia Super League, with Aidil having joined the Southern Tigers in 2012 and Safiq following in his footsteps in 2013.
Both players announced their retirement on the Johor Southern Tigers page on Facebook earlier today.
Safiq is also captain of JDT and led them to the title in the Super League for the past two years.
Local football pundits consider him the best Malaysian player of his generation.
In his statement on the Johor Southern Tigers page, Safiq said that he wanted to give the opportunity for other players in Harimau Malaya to carry on his roles.
“The time has come for me to retire from the national team and give opportunities to other players to carry on my roles.
“Helping the Under-23 national team win gold at the 2009 SEA Games and becoming the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup champions with the senior team will surely inspire the next generations of footballers to give more positive results to the country,” he said.
He also thanked all the fans, players, coaches and the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) management for having “supported me during my time with the national team.”
Aidil gave a similar reason for quitting the national team.
“I would like to provide the opportunity for younger players to represent the country,” he said in his statement.
“I am very proud of being able to help accomplish several achievements during my time with the national team including winning gold at the 2009 SEA Games, playing at the 2004 AFC Youth Championship qualifiers, the 2008 Olympics and many more.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation and say thank you to all local football fans, the national coaches and the FAM management for supporting my career throughout my time with the national team.”
The retirement announcement from both players comes in the wake of criticism by their club owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim over the national team’s Oceania Tour recently.
“According to the report that I’ve received from our players and fitness coach, the players only had 11-12 days of training throughout their 30 day tour with the national team.
“From June 19-28, they only had four days of training sessions compared with JDT that had conducted 19 sessions over the same period of time,” Tunku Ismail, who is also Tunku Mahkota Johor (TMJ), had alleged in his statement published in the same Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page yesterday.
“That is the reason why they are injury prone. If the players’ injuries happen during games and they are roughed up, I can accept it. But if injuries are due to the lack of training, I cannot tolerate it.
“This happens because the national team does not maintain and follow the proper momentum and ‘high intensity’ fitness training that is necessary,” he added.
Both FAM and national coach Ong Kim Swee have yet to respond to the sudden quit notice from Safiq and Aidil.