LUQMAN LOOKING YOUNG AND DANGEROUS
Kortrijk striker bulks up for Harimau Malaya
WHEN he has to swim with the sharks in Europe, Luqman Hakim Shamsudin doesn’t want to be an ikan bilis from Malaysia. So, he set out on bulking up to be able to match his rivals in the Belgian Division One.
Luqman is no longer the scrawny teenager from Kota Baru who journeyed to Belgium in August last year to join K.V. Kortrijk after signing a five-year contract.
Here’s some food for thought. The Belgian diet for professional footballers in the land of the world’s No 1 Fifa-ranked team, has spiced up the Malaysian wonder kid’s game.
Luqman, who made the Guardian’s annual list of Next Generation’s 60 of the best young talents in world football (2019), has undergone quite a transformation physically.
Nicknamed Luqie, the striker certainly surprised coach Tan Cheng Hoe with his appearance when he returned to Malaysia and joined the national team for training at the JDT centre on Monday in Johor Baru.
And Luqman, who still has two to three more years to grow, could be a big player literally for Harimau Malaya.
Luqman said he needs to be strong physically to be competitive in Europe, and he will continue to build muscle.
“It’s good for me to bulk up. I need to be muscular because the players in Europe are big in size. If I’m skinny, I will get swatted aside. Now, I’m stronger, so I can handle the physical part of the game.
“I still need to strengthen my physique more, and build more muscle. I’m bigger now but still among the smallest at my club in Belgium.
“The club prepares breakfast and lunch, so the diet is very controlled. I will have dinner at home. I usually take fish, chicken, lasagna and spaghetti. Food is an important aspect for me.”
The 19-year-old is the youngest in the 29-man training squad for Malaysia’s pre-World Cup qualifiers in June.
Though some critics claim that Luqman is too young to play for the national team, the teenager is not daunted. He said it’s a big step in his football career to join the national senior team.
Luqman said he has fully recovered from a hamstring injury suffered during training with Kortrijk in November.
“It’s normal for footballers to be criticised. For me, age is not a factor as long as you can play good football and contribute to the team.
“I am free of injuries now. I’ll just focus on working hard in training to prove myself to the coach.
“I want to take this opportunity to gain valuable experience and make the national squad for the World Cup qualifiers.”