Safee Sali

Safee Sali
Personal information
Full name Mohd Safee bin Mohd Sali
Date of birth (1984-01-29) 29 January 1984[1]
Place of birth Selangor, Malaysia[2]
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current team
 PKNS
Number 10
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Telekom Melaka 21 (10)
2003–2005 Kuala Lumpur 31 (20)
2005–2006 Sarawak 26 (10)
2006–2010 Selangor 105 (36)
2010–2011 Pelita Jaya 42 (27)
2012–2013 Arema Cronus 0 (0)
2013 → Johor Darul Ta'zim (loan) 0 (2)
2014–2017 Johor Darul Ta'zim 32 (4)
2017– PKNS 33 (9)
National team‡
2004–2007 Malaysia U-23 29 (15)
2006– Malaysia 74 (23)
2008–2016 Malaysia XI 27 (9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of July 28, 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of May 24, 2017

Mohd Safee bin Mohd Sali (born 29 January 1984 in Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia) is a Malaysian footballer who plays for Malaysia Super League club PKNS and the Malaysia national team.[3] Safee plays as a forward.

In 2011, Safee became the first Malaysian footballer to play in the Indonesia Super League with Pelita Jaya. Safee previously played for Telekom Melaka, Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak, Selangor, Pelita Jaya and Arema Cronus before heading back to Malaysian's side, Johor Darul Ta'zim.

Safee represents the Malaysia national team at the international level and was a member of the Malaysian team who won the 2010 AFF Championship for the first time with Safee being the top scorer. Safee is the only Malaysian footballer to score in four consecutive AFF Championship tournaments and is currently Malaysia's all-time leading goalscorer in the tournament with nine goals.

Club career

TM FC

Safee began his career at the age of 19 playing for TM FC after he attended the team tryout. Safee managed to play a few games for the team before joining Kuala Lumpur FA.

Kuala Lumpur FA

Safee talent was noticed by Kuala Lumpur FA coach, Igor Novak. He managed to score a hatrick during a league match against Perak TKN which ended with 6–2 win. He scored 11 goals in his first season with the team. In 2004 season, he only managed to score two league goals. In his last season with Kuala Lumpur, he scored 11 goals (7 league goals, 3 goals in Malaysia FA Cup and 1 goal in Malaysia Cup).

Sarawak FA

Safee later joined Sarawak FA. He became the top local goalscorer with 10 goals. His performance attracted the attention of the Malaysia football fans and the national team coach.

Selangor FA

In 2006/2007 season, Safee joined Selangor FA. He was given the number 10 jersey which was once worn by legendary Selangor FA and Malaysian national team player, the late Mokhtar Dahari. With Selangor, Safee impressed K. Devan by bringing the team both to the FA Cup and Malaysia Cup final. However, Selangor lost to Kedah FA in both finals with the same score of 3–2. He scored a total of 11 goals in his first season with Selangor.

On his second season with Selangor, he scored 11 goals in 10 matches, but he had an injury that made him missed half of the 2007/08 season. He returned to be the second top scorer on the 2010 Season. He also scored the winning goal for Selangor in a 2–1 win against Negeri Sembilan FA at the 2010 Malaysia Charity Shield.

After the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup and his superb performance at the early stages in the 2011 Super League Malaysia season, Safee agreed to join the Indonesian Super League team, Pelita Jaya to gain more experience. Safee's last game with Selangor was a 1–1 draw against Kuala Lumpur FA. This was Safee's last game before his departure to Karawang, Indonesia to join Pelita Jaya.

Pelita Jaya

On 5 February 2011, Safee officially transferred to the Indonesian Super League team, Pelita Jaya on a USD 30,000 transfer fee and his salary reached USD 10,000 or RM 30,360. .[4] Safee signed a 1 year contract with Pelita Jaya. This transfer made Safee the first Malaysian player to play in the Indonesian Super League.[5] Safee originally was given the number 10 shirt. But due to a registration problem, he chose the number 55 instead of his original number. Safee made his league debut against Sriwijaya. Safee scored 7 goals in 13 appearance in his first season with Pelita.

On 12 October 2011, Safee was announced as the captain of Pelita Jaya for the upcoming 2011–12 Indonesia Super League season and changed his jersey number to 10 instead. On 24 March 2012, Safee managed to score four goals against Gresik United. Safee ended the season with 20 league goals.

Cardiff City trial

In 2011, Safee was offered a two-week trial with Football League Championship club, Cardiff City.[6]

Arema Cronus

In 2013 season, Safee transferred to Arema Cronus.[7]

Johor Darul Takzim

In 2013, Safee returned to Malaysia to join Johor Darul Takzim. He made his debut and scored two goals in the pre-season match against Melaka United. In 2015, Safee was selected to start in the 2015 AFC Cup Final in a 1–0 victory against Istiklol at Pamir Stadium.

PKNS

In 2017, Safee announced that he had signed with PKNS. Under coach Datuk K. Rajagobal, Safee was featured as the striking partner to two-time S.League Golden Boot winner Rafael Ramazotti.[8]
Their first match was a 2-2 away draw at Terengganu FC. A few days later in their opening home game on 7 February 2018 at the Shah Alam Stadium, Safee grabbed an injury-time match-winning goal in their 1-0 win against Pahang.[9]

International career

Youth team

Safee started representing Malaysia Under-23 during the 2004 Olympic Games qualifiers. He played all the qualification matches but mostly played as the substitute. He was then selected to represent Malaysia Under-23 at the 2005 Pre-South East Asian Games in Thailand under the then-coach Bertalan Bicskei. He managed to score only one goal in the tournament against the Philippines Under-23. He however did not make it into 2005 South East Asian Games squad that won the bronze medal. After the 2005 South East Asian Games, Safee was given a chance by coach Norizan Bakar to represent the Under-23 side for the 2006 Doha Asian Games. He again failed to make it into the squad.

After the national Under-23 sides failure in the 2006 Asian Games, Safee was selected as the main striker by coach B. Sathianathan. Together with striking partner Mohd Zaquan Adha Abdul Radzak, they managed to win the 2007 Merdeka Tournament after defeating Myanmar 3–1 in the final and becoming the top scorer with 4 goals. He then was chosen to represent the country in the 2007 South East Asian Games in Thailand. Safee managed to score 2 goals in the tournament but the Under-23 national team failed to advance into the semifinal after a draw against rivals the Singapore.

For 2008, Safee was chosen as the main striker in the 2008 Malaysia Intercontinental Cup. He managed to score all Malaysia's 3 goals in Malaysia's 1–3 defeat to the Republic of Ireland, 1–0 win against the Iraq and an impressive 1–1 draw against the Nigeria. The match against Nigeria was Safee's last game with Malaysia national under-23 team.

In 2010, Safee received called up for the Asian Games squad. He played three matches in Eximbank Cup in Vietnam. He did not chosen as the three senior members for the final squad to the Asian Games.

Senior team

After an impressive season with Sarawak in the Malaysia Premier League, Safee managed to make it into the national team. He was given his first senior caps against New Zealand on 19 February 2006. He then scored his first international goal on his second cap against New Zealand.

He then became the part of the national football team preparing for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. He was then chosen into the squad of Malaysia 2007 Asian Cup. He only made his first appearance in the Asian Cup in the third group match against Iran where Malaysia lost 0–3.

For the 2008 Merdeka Tournament, Safee scored another similar style of goal that was scored earlier during the 2008 Sultan of selangor Cup against the Nepal. He became the top scorer of the tournament with 5 goals despite Malaysia losing 6–5 through penalty kicks against Vietnam in the final.

In November 2010, Safee was called up to the Malaysia national squad by coach K. Rajagopal for the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup. Safee scored twice against Vietnam to secure a 2–0 win in the first leg in the semi finals. Safee again scored another two goals in the first leg of the finals to secure a 3–0 win against Indonesia. On the second leg of the Final, Safee scored another goal to earn 5 goals, thus becoming the tournaments top goal scorer. Malaysia won the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 title for the first time in their history.

On 28 November 2012, Safee netted in his third consecutive AFF Championship tournament, scoring the second goal in Malaysia's 4–1 win over Laos in their second group match. On 29 November 2014, Safee netted in his fourth consecutive AFF Championship tournament, scoring the first goal in Malaysia's 3–1 win over Singapore in their third group match. Other than that, he was invisible throughout the tournament.

Malaysia XI

Safee also represented in the Malaysia XI squad against Arsenal and Liverpool at the Shah Alam Stadium on 29 July 2008. He was one of the impressive Malaysian players on the match. The Malaysia XI eventually lost.[10]

On 16 July 2011, Safee was included in the match against Liverpool in which the Malaysia XI lost 3–6. He came on as a substitute and scored 2 goals.[11]

Date Location Head coach Opponent Result Goals
29 July 2008 Shah Alam Stadium B. Sathianathan Chelsea[12] 0–2 (L)[13]
16 July 2011 National Stadium, Bukit Jalil K. Rajagopal Liverpool[14] 3–6 (L)
24 July 2012 National Stadium, Bukit Jalil K. Rajagopal Arsenal[15] 0–2 (L)
30 July 2012 National Stadium, Bukit Jalil K. Rajagopal Manchester City[16] 0–3 (L)
21 July 2013 Shah Alam Stadium K. Rajagopal Chelsea 1–4 (L)

Attributes

Safee previously wears the legendary jersey No. 10 which was once worn by legendary Selangor FA and Malaysian national team player, the late Mokhtar Dahari. He is a member of the Malaysia national football team. His aggressive playing style, combined with great pace, good physique despite his height of 171 cm and his shooting techniques recently made him a regular first team member for the national team. Being one of the Malaysian players with the best flair, Safee also contributes spectacular goals with his long shots and overhead kicks for both the national team and Selangor FA.

Social media controversy

Safee gained notoriety on social media after lashing out at fans for criticising his poor performances for the Malaysian national team in the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup. After a 3–2 loss to Thailand in the group stage of the tournament, he responded to negative comments on Instagram by saying in Malay: " "Those commenting negatively here, have you played at the international level? If not, you'd better shut up...Don't put down the efforts of those fighting for the country's honour...IF YOU SHAME TO SUPPORT HARIMAU MALAYA BETTER CHANGE TO ANOTHER FLAG (sic)".[17]

Malaysia succeeded in making it to the final anyway, after overturning a 2–1 semi-final first leg deficit to win 5–3 on aggregate against Vietnam in the second leg. Safee was rested for the second leg, reportedly due to injury. Following the victory over Vietnam, he posted an Instagram photo of himself celebrating, with the caption (translated): "To the fans who swapped flags after being told off last time, don't hide your faces behind pillows ok..just wipe them with tissues". One of the photo's hashtags said "#amikkau", which means "take that" in Malay.[18] This outraged Malaysian fans further, and Safee was booed by home supporters during the final game against Thailand.

Commercial endorsements

Safee is under sponsorship with American sports-brand, Nike, after previously being the face of Adidas for South East Asia. Safee was given his own Mercurial Football Boot with his name on it. It was given exclusively by Nike.[19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 28 July 2018.[20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Telekom Melaka 2003 Premier League 1 400000–0040
Total400000–0040
Kuala Lumpur 2003 Malaysia Premier League 15110000–001511
2004 Malaysia Premier League 620000–0062
2005–06 Malaysia Premier League 1070000–00107
Total31200000–003120
Sarawak 2005–06 Malaysia Premier League 26100000–002610
Total26100000–002610
Pelita Jaya 2010–2011 Indonesia Super League 1370000–00137
2011–2012 Indonesia Super League 29200000–002920
Total42270000–004227
Johor Darul Ta'zim (loan) 2013 Malaysia Super League 020103–0006
Total020103–0006
Johor Darul Ta'zim 2014 Malaysia Super League 920100–0003
2015 Malaysia Super League 151108311400358
2016 Malaysia Super League 810000–0000
Total32401030400012
PKNS 2017 Malaysia Super League 1441010–00164
2018 Malaysia Super League 1954200–00237
Total3395210–003911
Career Total000000––0000

    International Appearances

    As of 22 March 2017.[21]
    Malaysia national team
    YearAppsGoals
    200641
    200730
    2008107
    200910
    201065
    201185
    2012163
    201330
    2014121
    201561
    201630
    201710
    Total7423

    International goals

    Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first.[21]
    #DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
    1.23 February 2006North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand New Zealand1–11–2Friendly
    2.10 October 2008Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Pakistan1–04–1Friendly
    3.15 October 2008Petaling Jaya Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia   Nepal2–04–02008 Merdeka Tournament
    4.3–0
    5.20 October 2008Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Afghanistan5–06–02008 Merdeka Tournament
    6.23 October 2008Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Myanmar2–04–02008 Merdeka Tournament
    7.6 December 2008Surakul Stadium, Phuket, Thailand Laos1–03–02008 AFF Suzuki Cup
    8.3–0
    9.15 December 2010Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Vietnam1–02–02010 AFF Suzuki Cup
    10.2–0
    11.26 December 2010Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Indonesia1–03–02010 AFF Suzuki Cup
    12.3–0
    13.29 December 2010Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia Indonesia1–01–22010 AFF Suzuki Cup
    14.23 July 2011Jalan Besar Stadium, Jalan Besar, Singapore Singapore1–03–52014 FIFA World Cup qualification
    15.3–4
    16.28 July 2011Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Singapore1–01–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
    17.16 November 2011Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, India India1–12–3Friendly
    18.2–3
    19.16 October 2012Mong Kok Stadium, Mong Kok, Hong Kong Hong Kong1–03–0Friendly
    20.14 November 2012Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Hong Kong1–01–1Friendly
    21.28 November 2012Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Laos2–14–12012 AFF Suzuki Cup
    22.29 November 2014National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore Singapore1–03–12014 AFF Suzuki Cup
    23.11 June 2015Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Timor-Leste1–01–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification

    Honours

    Club

    Selangor
    Johor Darul Takzim

    International

    Malaysia

    Individual honours

    References

    1. ↑ https://www.fifa.com/fifa-tournaments/players-coaches/people=212029/index.html
    2. ↑ https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/mohd-safee-player-stats
    3. ↑ Safee Sali joins Johor on loan. Goal.com (4 December 2012). Retrieved on 4 December 2012.
    4. ↑ PELITA JAYA IT IS FOR SAFEE. aseanfootball.org (7 February 2011). Retrieved at 3 May 2014
    5. ↑ "Safee pergi ke Pelita Jaya (Malay)". MNFT FC. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
    6. ↑ "Cardiff City hand Safee Sali, 'Malaysia's David Beckham', his big chance". Abg Teror. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
    7. ↑ "Safee ke Arema Malang". Abg Teror. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
    8. ↑ http://www.espn.com/soccer/blog-football-asia/story/3365066/former-sleague-golden-boot-rafael-ramazotti-joins-pkns
    9. ↑ https://www.bharian.com.my/sukan/bola/2018/02/385988/pkns-benam-pahang-di-laman-sendiri
    10. ↑ Chelsea beat Malaysian XI. Fifa.com (29 July 2008). Retrieved on 11 August 2012.
    11. ↑ Charlie Adam and Alberto Aquilani star as Liverpool hit Malaysian side for six – Malaysia All-Star XI 3–6 Liverpool. Guardian (16 July 2011). Retrieved on 11 August 2012.
    12. ↑ TEAM NEWS: Malaysia XI vs Chelsea Retrieved 3 May 2014
    13. ↑ Match Report: Malaysian XI 0–2 Chelsea Archived 6 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 May 2014
    14. ↑ Liverpool Football Club Tour Official Website Retrieved at 7 April 2011
    15. ↑ Arsenal to visit Malaysia on summer tour Archived 26 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved at 10 April 2012 from Arsenal.com
    16. ↑ Blues to play tour game in Malaysia Retrieved at 26 April 2012 from Manchester City Official Website
    17. ↑ "Safee Sali lashes out on detractors...on Instagram - Goal.com". goal.com. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
    18. ↑ "MALAYSIA MENANG, SAFEE SALI SINDIR PEMINAT". ammboi.com. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
    19. ↑ "Safee's Nike Mercurial boot Release". Imageshack. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
    20. ↑ "Safee Sali". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
    21. 1 2 "Safee Sali". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
    22. ↑ https://sg.sports.yahoo.com/news/goal-com-readers-asian-best-xi-2011-javad-113000078--soccer.html
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