SINGAPORE – In the last two years, Meridian Secondary School striker Muhammad Alfieyan Jumahat struggled to get game time with his school’s football team.
But he continued to work his socks off during training and followed advice from coach Fabio da Silva closely. His perseverance and dedication eventually paid off as da Silva made him a regular starter this season.
On May 7, he repaid the coach’s faith in him by scoring against Victoria School to give Meridian a 1-0 win in the B Division boys’ final at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Rising highest to head home Qylfie Ryan Fazlie’s free kick in the 11th minute, Alfieyan’s goal sparked celebrations from their schoolmates and was ultimately enough for Meridian to clinch their first B Division boys’ title.
The 16-year-old also finished as the team’s top scorer by accounting for seven of their 18 goals in nine matches.
Alfieyan said: “I’ve improved a lot since I was in Secondary 2, when I was just a benchwarmer. Now, I’m in the starting XI and the team’s top scorer. I feel proud of myself, it’s a big achievement. For my goal to be the winning goal for the team as well, I felt happy.”
Da Silva credited Alfieyan for stepping up to the plate. He said: “Some players take a few years to adjust well to this level and he’s one of them. He’s taken on the challenge and worked very hard to be who he is today.
“As a coach, that’s what I’m proud of. He follows my instructions well, works very well to defend and attack, and had a good tournament.”
Meridian started more aggressively and were not afraid to put in sliding challenges on Victoria’s players, who had no answer to their opponents’ defensive solidarity and struggled to create chances after conceding early.
Da Silva said the team worked on nullifying Victoria’s biggest threats – counter-attacks, long balls and set pieces – throughout the week.
He added: “We scored the first goal and knew they were going to put players forward, so I give credit to the boys for their communication as everybody worked together.”
Meridian captain Andry Akimi Mahmood said they deserved the win, having learnt from their mistakes in a 1-0 loss to Victoria during the group stage on Jan 29.
“We let the wingers run too much (then), so this time we did well watching out for them,” he said. “We applied what we learnt today and defended well as a team.”
He also praised the team’s mental fortitude, saying: “All of us gave 100 per cent and nobody backed down. We were focused and determined to finish first.
“There are no words to describe how proud I am. None of us were tired, no one was lazy or scared, we’re all confident. We knew Victoria were a good team, so we wanted to start and end aggressive.”
Paying tribute to da Silva, Andry added: “It feels amazing to be the first team to win Meridian the title, and I’m proud of the team and thankful to coach for the achievement. He pushes us during every training, telling us our mistakes and making us learn.”
Da Silva lauded his team’s effort in return, highlighting the work they put in throughout the 80 minutes.
He said that at the start of the season, he had encouraged the team to make history. Formed only in 2017, the team had previously come close when they finished as runners-up.
“We made the school proud and I’m very happy for this group of players,” he said.
Victoria skipper Xavier Tan admitted that it was simply not their day, saying: “We couldn’t get together and gel as a team today... I’m proud we made the final but I’m disappointed we fell short.”
