Syafiq all pumped up to deliver after birth of baby girl

STRIKER Syafiq Ahmad has received a perfect tonic ahead of the last-16 match against Japan in the Asian Games football competition at the Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi tonight.

Syafiq welcomed his first born – a bouncing baby girl Aaira Nor Safiya – on Wednesday and he’s now all fired up for another upset in the tournament after Malaysia’s shock win over defending champions South Korea in Group E last week.

The 23-year-old, who missed the AFC Under-23 championship in China in January due to his wedding to sweetheart Nor Amalina Norain, said he wanted to make amends with the team.

“My wife safely delivered our first child and I’m so fired up to get a win for them. I missed the team’s assignment in China due to personal matters and now I’m hungry to make up for lost time,” said the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) player.

Syafiq, who started in the two opening wins over Kyrgyzstan (3-1) and South Korea (2-1), was rested in the match against Bahrain, where Malaysia lost 2-3.

The Penang-born player said: “I don’t think missing the Bahrain game has affected my performance.

“I’ve a good understanding with Akhyar (Rashid) who was my former teammate at Kedah and my JDT teammate Safawi (Rasid),” said Syafiq.

“We’re going to play one of the giants of Asia.

“Japan are strong at every age group. We’ve to be ready to do extra work.

“We watched Japan’s last match against Vietnam, they played good football, their possession with short passes was good.

“They were also very offensive and that may leave some space in the back which we can exploit.”