Johor Darul Ta’zim played their AFC Champions League Elite opener against Shanghai Port on Wednesday with nine foreigners in their starting XI, as a result of the increase in the number of import players allowed in Asian club competition.
Ten, if you include captain Natxo Insa, who was born and spent most of his life in Spain but now represents Malaysia because his grandmother qualified him for citizenship.
Many of them have been brought in mainly to push JDT to the continental level, with players like Jorge Obregón, Iker Undabarrena, and Eddy Israfilov recently arrived, who had not been there when the Malaysia Super League campaign started in May.
Just one Malaysian was on the team that over the past decade has dominated the continent’s top club competition.
Namun begitu, seorang individu yang paling tinggi—jauh lebih tinggi daripada his sederhana 1.71 meter frame—almost mencederakan the Southern Tigers secara besar-besaran sebelum mereka akhirnya kalah 2-2 dengan Shanghai Port.
Arif Aiman would have been the player who would have felt he deserved to be on the winning side, but claiming a point away to a team that is still one of Asia’s best clubs will still be a good result to return to Johor Bahru.
Pada mulanya, Shanghai Port kelihatan lebih baik, dan Arif kelihatan seperti seorang yang tidak dikenali, tetapi akhirnya visitors masuk ke dalam perlumbaan.
Still, a moment of magic from Arif on halftime stroke—he received possession 40 yards out and headed straight towards goal, carefreely gliding past and around three opposition defenders before rifling a shot from.
He had already done it before, but seeing it again is always amazing, especially in the spotlight of Asian football against formidable opposition led by Oscar, a former Chelsea star.
Although Gustavo’s equaliser in the 48th minute gave the host a good response, Arif struck again in the 56th minute just when they looked like they might be gaining momentum.
Arif chased it down and advanced into the box during a hopeful crossfield pass by Obregón.
Although he had a bit of luck this time as his attempted dribble saw the ball ricochet off opposition defender Wei Zhen before it kindly fell back into his path, he still felt guilty as he cheekily clipped a shot over the rushing Yan Junling and into the far corner.
Pada akhirnya, malam itu tidak sempurna apabila Pelabuhan Shanghai kembali dengan
