Malaysians
are not just blessed with their attractive Twin Towers of Petronas KLCC, they
also have an eye catching twin in their football scenery. Most Malaysians must be
familiar with the sight of twin brothers from Negeri Sembilan playing in the
Malaysian Super League and also representing Malaysia on the international
stage. They are, (if readers still don’t have any idea), Mohd Aidil Zafuan
Abdul Radzak and Mohd Zaquan Adha Abdul Radzak. This year both are reaching 27
years of age and it seems like they have been in Malaysian football forever as
they started getting Malaysian’s attention very early. It has been 12 to 14 years
already since both burst into the Malaysian football, the similar duration football
fans have known about Wayne Rooney’s existence when he made big move signing to
Manchester United. Aidil and Zaquan started their professional career for their beloved
Negeri Sembilan in 2004 when they helped them to win the gold medal in SUKMA 2004 men’s football. After that triumph, both were quickly promoted into the Negeri
Sembilan’s senior squad. And in 2005/2006 season, they helped Negeri Sembilan
to win their first Malaysian Super League. At this time, most Malaysian fans
already knew and aware of their wonderful ability and also their good looking
appearances.
Aidil and
Zaquan joined Malaysian U-20 national team in 2004/2005 season and then subsequently
were called into the Malaysian senior national team in 2007/2008 season. Both
were already the familiar faces in youth international competitions as they
started since they were 14 years old. They have helped Malaysian team to win
some memorable competitions namely the Merdeka Tournament, Southeast Asia
Games, and others. Off the pitch, the twin has also offered their services in
becoming the model for new national jersey presentation and other sponsorship
activities. In all, they are the face of Malaysian football in this modern era and the place where the Malaysian new generations of football fans put their hopes on.
Although
they are twin, Aidil and Zaquan are of different positions and abilities. Aidil
plays as a defender, while Zaquan is a striker.
Aidil is not known for his tough tackling but he is quick in intercepting the
through ball attributed by his pace and good coordination. Aidil is also known
in the Malaysian Super League as a killer crosser and outstanding free-kicks
taker having assisting from the flanks and scoring long and middle distance free-kicks.
Zaquan on the other hand is good in scoring as he scored 62 goals in 126
appearances for Negeri Sembilan. But persistent knee injuries prevent him from
improving his career goals as he frequently being sidelined for a long period.
Aidil and Zaquan always played together in the same clubs since they started. Rumors said that when clubs were interested in signing one of the twin brothers, they have to take them both as a package. It’s like a double swoop and also a coup for any clubs, considering their big reputations in Malaysia and also their decent football abilities. When their contracts at Negeri Sembilan were running down in 2008, many clubs were vying to sign them. Even a top club from Slovakia was rumored to be interested in the twin. But they showed their loyalty and then continued playing for Negeri Sembilan until 2012. Then after that, an upcoming club named Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) approached the twin to join them. ATM was very ambitious as they were looking to get a straight promotion into the Malaysian Super League from the lower league, Malaysian Premier League. Their ambition to sign Aidil and Zaquan was a big statement of intent. In the end both signed for ATM. The move was a major success as they helped ATM to win the Premier League in the same year and ATM was automatically promoted to the Super League. At this time, the twin’s stock rise even higher and the big fish of the Super League came calling. Johor Darul Takzim (JDT), a rebranded team of Johor FC, were very interested in signing the twin as part of their own project of creating a ‘Malaysian’s Galacticos’. Upon hearing JDT signing big named players such as Safiq Rahim, Safee Sali, Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, and others, Aidil and Zaquan didn’t hesitate to join JDT. In 2013 they finally signed for JDT. Zaquan’s knee injury strucked him again last year and he was then being pushed down to the sister’s club of JDT, which is JDT II as a result of his lack of appearances. Meanwhile, Aidil helped JDT to win their first ever Malaysian league title in this year’s 2014 edition. The superb performances all year from Aidil has forced the new national team coach, Dollah Salleh, to appoint him as the new permanent captain of Malaysia replacing his JDT’s teammate, Safiq Rahim. The new added responsibility made Aidil’s reputation even bigger. It is hoped that his twin, Zaquan, can get fully fit from his injury quickly and join Aidil in creating more history and making the nation proud by winning more international competitions. When they manage to that, it will be no surprised if Malaysian people are proud of two twins in the future. One being the Petronas Twin Towers and the other one being the Malaysian twin footballers…
No comments:
Post a Comment