Malaysian striker Safee fires up wrong smokescreen

It was the last thing Malaysia coach Dollah Salleh needed as he prepared his team for tonight’s crucial final Group B match in the AFF Suzuki Cup against hosts Singapore.

A picture of Malaysian striker Safee Sali, 30, puffing on a cigarette while seated at a coffee shop was posted on Facebook yesterday and quickly went viral, eliciting comments from fans on both sides of the Causeway. What made it worse for the Johor Darul Ta’zim player was that he was wearing a Malaysia team jacket.

When shown the picture by a TODAY reporter, Safee, who has yet to score in this tournament, shrugged his shoulders and said: “Someone I did not know took this picture and walked away. It was too late to stop him. What can I do?”

Safee is considered one of Malaysia’s key players in their must-win clash against the Lions tonight, with Singapore midfielder Hariss Harun calling him a big-game player who will strike if given the opportunity.

While Dollah refused to be drawn into making comments regarding Safee’s indiscretion, TODAY understands the matter will be dealt with internally by the Malaysian team management, while the team concentrate on finding their way past four-time AFF Championship winner Singapore.

Coaches and former players that TODAY spoke to felt the onus is on the player to behave responsibly, especially when in national colours.

“Players should behave themselves, especially in public and smoking is something they should not do,” said K Rajagopal, the former Malaysian coach who guided the team to victory in the 2010 tournament. “To be seen smoking in public, especially during a tournament is no good for the player himself and the image of the team he represents.”

Former Lions defender R Sasikumar concurs, as he said: “Players need to know how to behave because they are in the public eye as a national player. By wearing national colours, they are seen as a role model. He’s not going to be dropped for tonight’s game but he needs to relook his actions.”

Warriors FC vice-captain Zulfadli Zainal commented: “Safee is really not doing his country a favour ahead of their big clash against Singapore. He just added unnecessary pressure on himself because now the pressure is on him to really shine and perform.

“On the flip side, this picture might push the Malaysian players to work even harder to win against Singapore just to atone for Safee’s action.” EMMANUEL PHUA , additional reporting DAN GUEN CHIN

Results of final round of Group A matches in Hanoi

Indonesia 5-1 Laos

Vietnam 3-1 Philippines

Pull-out quotes

Bernd Stange: “This is a Singapore team in the process of rebuilding and it’s the way forward for Singapore football. And whatever happens (on Saturday night) we can live with it.”

Dollah Salleh: “Rest assured you can expect something new from Malaysia on Saturday night.”

Final Group A standings after tonight’s matches, and Group B standings going into Saturday’s fixtures

Group A – Vietnam

Vietnam – 7 pts*

Philippines – 6 pts*

Indonesia – 4 pts

Laos – 0 pts

*Vietnam and Philippines qualify for semis

Group B - Singapore

Thailand – 6 pts

Singapore – 3 pts

Malaysia – 1 pt

Myanmar – 1 pt

TV Times

On mio and StarHub TV

Today, 8pm: Thailand vs Myanmar*, Singapore vs Malaysia*

*LIVE on Fox Sports 2

**LIVE on OKTO (LIVE streaming on Toggle)