Sali: The Malaysian Beckham

Interesting story run by the Echo today on our trialist:

Football correspondent STEVE TUCKER reports on Cardiff City’s interest in ‘Malaysia’s David Beckham’

WALK anywhere in Kuala Lumpur and there’s a good chance you might see the face of Safee Sali beaming down.

The name might not mean anything in British football but in Asia they don’t come much bigger.

In fact, Queens Park Rangers boss Neil Warnock described Sali as “the David Beckham of Malaysia”.


Warnock should know as Rangers were linked with Sali before Cardiff stole a march in the race to sign the free-scoring striker by taking him on a two-week trial.

Of course, Cardiff and Rangers have Malaysian owners – the big-spending Tan Sri Tony Fernandes having just taken over at Loftus Road – and it could be argued that signing Sali is a crude marketing ploy.

A PR stunt of Premier League proportions?

Imagine the interest in Malaysian in their top player plying his trade in British football.

There would be a few replica shirts in it, that’s for sure – much to the delight of Bluebirds billionaire backer Vincent Tan and chairman Dato Chan Tien Ghee.

But is there more to Sali than a marketing man’s dream? Well, his goal record would suggest so.

The 27-year-old is regarded as the best Malaysian marksman of his generation with 16 goals in 31 international outings to prove it.

With goals, come cash. Sali was the face of his previous sponsor Adidas across South East Asia and is currently tied up to Nike.

The sports giant have paid him the ultimate accolade of supplying him with his own named boot.

That has raised Sali’s profile on the international stage and there has also been reported interest from Bundesliga clubs in Germany.

But after flying into Cardiff on Monday, Sali – who currently plies his trade at Indonesian Super League side Pelita Jaya – was remaining modest about the prospects of playing in Britain.

Sali described his opportunity to impress manager Malky Mackay at Cardiff as “the chance of a lifetime” and is just hoping to make a good impression in the Welsh capital.

“It all started when Cardiff contacted my agent about the arrangement,” Sali told a Malaysian newspaper.

“When my agent told me I was in a state of shock.

“I didn’t believe it at first, thinking it was a practical joke.

“Then my agent had to reassure me that it was for real; that Cardiff City was really interested in having me on board for a two-week stint.

“It slowly sank in and naturally, I was elated over the whole matter.

“When things were finalised I told my wife and she too was in disbelief, but she and my whole family were very happy about the whole news.

“I’m still very happy and really excited but I do have several concerns, one being my old knee injury.

“I’m praying that I will be fit and well throughout my time there.

“Language too will be an obstacle. But I hope I will be able to adapt quickly and make the best of my opportunity.

“I know some people may treat this trip lightly, but to me, being called up for trials with the first team is already an honour.

“Deep down inside I am bent on impressing them. Perhaps this would help market my capabilities in that region.

“I know I’ve been linked to the Bundesliga, too. A good showing in Cardiff would surely help me secure something in Europe.

“But I don’t want to be seen as being too far-fetched, so for now I’m just going to enjoy myself by playing good football.

“I’m thankful, it is certainly a chance of a lifetime.”

One thing that cannot be disputed is that Sali certainly knows where the net is.

During his club career in Malaysia, he scored an incredible 110 times in 138 appearances for various clubs.

At his current Indonesian employers he has continued where he left off with seven goals in 13 appearances.

Mackay is certainly in the market for an extra striker to boost his attacking options.

The starting partnership so far this campaign has seen Robert Earnshaw paired up top with Kenny Miller.

Young Frenchman Rudy Gestede has made a number of substitute appearances in the league, but, along with Joe Mason, is currently seen as too inexperienced.

Burly frontman Jon Parkin does not appear to figure in Mackay’s plans and was close to moving to Coventry recently.

With the loan window now open Mackay has confirmed he is looking to add new faces.

But even with Premier League sides having named their 25-man squads, experienced options for the Bluebirds look limited.

“It is a small pool you have to fish in of who the Premier League clubs would like to loan out,” said Mackay.

“Even among that there is criteria like wages that are astronomical or youngsters who are not ready to play in the Championship yet.

“So there’s a small band and I would imagine about 15 clubs in this league are looking for them – and we’re one of them.

“We certainly need a little bit of strength-in-depth if we are going to make it through a 46-game league season.

“We need strengthening in every area.”

At 5ft 8ins, Sali barely fits the bill of the strong forward presence that Cardiff are crying out for. But, with his trademark turn of pace and deadly finishing, he could yet add another dimension to Cardiff’s play.

One thing is for certain, if Sali can impress over the next fortnight then life at Cardiff City might never be quite the same again.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... -29416739/

Check out the 10 goals video at the bottom of the page, the wide player crossing to Safee looks good too.

And we dont need another player under 5ft5in, Unless its a cost cutting excercise to change all the players so they can get half price fares.

id easily have him in our squad

And we dont need another player under 5ft5in, Unless its a cost cutting excercise to change all the players so they can get half price fares.

I don't care if he was 3Ft 4in if he could guarantee us 25 goals a season i would sign him

If he does well in the trial I'd sign him up.

You might sign him up Nick, but there's a small matter of a work permit.

Which Malaysian players almost certainly would not get.

PR stunt, nothing more - top player on trial here, "tried" to sign him but for the damn red tape...

the level of football is far lower agreed... but he does seem to knows where the goal is.....

but at 27, why hasnt any european or uk team come in for him before now??

id say see how he does on trial, try him in a development fixture like the southampton game the other night and take it from there..

some players to come out of the far east are actually good... eg. ji sung park, honda, nakamura, nakata. jo yung park to name but a few.. i know these are mostly japanese and korean players but it does show that there are 1 or 2 star quality players in the far east...

who knows there could also be 1 or 2 in malaysia..

the level of football is far lower agreed... but he does seem to knows where the goal is.....

but at 27, why hasnt any european or uk team come in for him before now??

id say see how he does on trial, try him in a development fixture like the southampton game the other night and take it from there..

some players to come out of the far east are actually good... eg. ji sung park, honda, nakamura, nakata. jo yung park to name but a few.. i know these are mostly japanese and korean players but it does show that there are 1 or 2 star quality players in the far east...

who knows there could also be 1 or 2 in malaysia..

Again, work permit. No way would it be granted.

what is malaysias fifa ranking??

what is malaysias fifa ranking??

Not in the top 75, that's for sure...

ah just seen 148...


but just looking at the work permit rules the nation must be above 70 in the fifa rankings so how come we have players from nations in the prem league/ football from nations that are above 70 in the rankings??

i suppose it depends on the quality of the player, how many international caps they have and how they will benefit the football in the uk..

ah just seen 148...


but just looking at the work permit rules the nation must be above 70 in the fifa rankings so how come we have players from nations in the prem league/ football from nations that are above 70 in the rankings??

i suppose it depends on the quality of the player, how many international caps they have and how they will benefit the football in the uk..

If they are EU nations, there's no requirement for a work permit.

Non-EU nations, then there is.

The rules aren't always applied hard and fast - in the case of exceptional circumstances, where the nation may just have slumped for one ranking period say, or the player hasn't played the necessarily percentage of games due to suspension / injury, some latitude can occur.

Malaysia, well, their football is crap, their national team is crap, playing crap teams and are still ranked below Wales. I'd fail to see how any exceptional circumstances could be applied to the applications.

Which is why I've zero doubt this is more about publicity in malaysia than anything else.

good points!!