Malaysia's hero of the moment, Safee Sali, thanked his coach Dollah Salleh for giving him the perfect opportunity against arch-rivals Singapore to silence his critics.
The Johor Darul Takzim forward scored Malaysia's first goal in their 3-1 win over Singapore on Saturday night to send his team into the semifinals of the AFF Suzuki Cup where they will play hot favourites Vietnam over two legs on Dec. 7 and 11.
Safee was the talk of town a day before the final Group B matchup after he was caught on camera smoking with a few of his teammates outside their team hotel along Shenton Way, but Dollah backed his misfiring striker by starting him despite his alarming drop in form this season.
The striker repaid his coach's faith with a fantastic opening goal before teammate Safiq Rahim and Indra Putra Mahayuddin went on to finish the job at the Sports Hub.
"I am delighted to score. It's a huge relief to finally score to help the country win the match." Safee said in quotes from The Star. "I went to huge coach Dollah Salleh after the goal because I had to thank him for trusting me."
Safee insisted that this campaign has vast similarities to Malaysia's 2010 championship winning campaign, where the team led by K. Rajagopal drew one and lost one before claiming a semifinal spot with an emphatic 5-1 victory in the final group game against Laos.
"Our journey is similar to the one in 2010, when we emerged as champions. Then, we pulled through at the last minute and went on to meet Vietnam in the semifinals. Hopefully, it's the same outcome again," he added.
Safee was instrumental in that title winning run when he scored a brace against Philippines in their semifinal before repeating it in the final against Indonesia and will be seeking to repeat that feat against Vietnam when they lock horns later this month.