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Arif Aiman bin Mohd Hanapi (born 4 May 2002) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Johor Darul Ta'zim and the Malaysia national football team.
Youth career
Arif Aiman's talent was discovered during the Mykids programme in 2011/12, and he later joined the squad that won IberCup Costa Del Sol in 2015. He then decided to leave Mokhtar Dahari Academy at the end of 2018 to join JDT Academy in order to increase his playing opportunities. After playing for JDT in the Youth and President's Cups, Arif Aiman caught the attention of Malaysia U-18 squad coach, Bojan Hodak, in early 2019.
Arif Aiman is a product of the National Football Development Programme of Malaysia (NFDP) from 2015 to 2017 and then Johor Darul Ta'zim Academy. He played in all levels of the academy including JDT IV, JDT III, JDT II until he became a regular for the first team.
Arif Aiman began his senior club with Johor Darul Ta'zim after playing for the youth club few years back. In 2021, at age 19, he won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 2021 National Football Awards ceremony and created the nation's history as the youngest player ever chosen as MVP, surpassing teammate Safawi Rasid, who was 21 when he was selected as MVP in 2018. He was also named Best Striker and Most Promising Player in that year’s awards.
Club career
Johor Darul Ta'zim
Arif Aiman made his senior debut with Johor Darul Ta'zim II on 29 February 2020 in the 2020 Malaysia Premier League. He played 73 minutes in a 3–1 away win against Negeri Sembilan. On 14 March 2020, he made his Johor Darul Ta'zim first team debut against Felda United in the 2020 Malaysia Super League. He scored his first goal for the club against Kuching City in a 1–0 win in the Round of 16 of the 2020 Malaysia Cup which see them through to the quarter-finals. Arif Aiman made his first appearance in the 2021 season against UiTM after his fellow teammate Safawi Rasid was subbed off because of a knee injury. He also scored in that match. Arif was named in the 25 best ASEAN wonderkids in football. On 22 June 2021, he made his debut in 2021 AFC Champions League, which ended in a 0–1 loss against Japanese club Nagoya Grampus.
Sending JDT to their first ever knockout stage of the AFC Champions League
On 30 April 2022, as Johor desperately needing a win to qualify for the Round of 16 in the AFC Champions League group stage, he crossed the ball during the last kick of the match, which resulted Park Yong-woo from Ulsan Hyundai to accidentally scored an own goal. Johor won the game with a score of 2–1 and qualified to the knockout stage as group leader. On 5 August 2022, Arif Aiman scored his first senior hat-trick for JDT during the 2022 Malaysia FA Cup semi-finals match against Penang. On 28 November 2022, he scored a goal in a friendly match against Borussia Dortmund in Johor's last match of in 2022. On 2 February 2023, he started off his pre-season well in Dubai in the match against Russian club, Lokomotiv Moscow in which he ran past behind the goalkeeper and scored the only goal in the game. On 24 February 2023, he won the 2023 Malaysia Charity Shield for the third time in his career. On 26 June 2023, he scored a first half hat-trick in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Cup against Selangor. It was also his back to back hat-trick for club and country.
International career
Arif made his first appearance for Malaysia in an unofficial friendly match against Kuwait on 23 May 2021 at the age of 19 years 19 days. His official debut was against Bahrain on 29 May 2021. His first competitive match with Malaysia was against Vietnam in the 2022 World Cup Qualifier as a substitution. He made his appearance in the 61st minute but the team eventually ended up losing 1–2.
He converted a penalty kick against Solomon Islands in a international friendly match on 14 June 2023, which was his first international goal after 16 appearances with the national team. On 20 June 2023, he scored four goals in a 10–0 against Papua New Guinea, which made him the seventh Malaysian player to score more than three goals in one international match.
International goals
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 14 June 2023 | Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Terengganu, Malaysia |  Solomon Islands | 2–1 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 2. | 20 June 2023 |  Papua New Guinea | 3–0 | 10–0 | ||
| 3. | 4–0 | |||||
| 4. | 9–0 | |||||
| 5. | 10–0 | |||||
| 6. | 13 October 2023 | Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |  India | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2023 Merdeka Tournament |
Style of play
Arif Aiman usually plays in the position of a winger who provides the chance for his front line. He is known for his pace, agility, and dribbles that can handle 1 to 3 opponents while in possession and can play with both feet.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 26 June 2023
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Johor Darul Ta'zim II | 2020 | Malaysia Premier League | 6 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |||||||
| Total | 6 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |||||||||
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2020 | Malaysia Super League | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | 3 | 1 | |||
| 2021 | Malaysia Super League | 21 | 2 | — | 10 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 36 | 3 | |||
| 2022 | Malaysia Super League | 21 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 8 | |
| 2023 | Malaysia Super League | 14 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | — | 17 | 9 | ||||
| Total | 58 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 98 | 25 | ||
| Career total | 64 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 104 | 25 | ||
- Notes
International
- As of matches played 6 September 2023.
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malaysia | 2021 | 8 | 0 |
| 2022 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 3 | 5 | |
| Total | 18 | 5 | |
Honours
Johor Darul Ta'zim
- Malaysia Super League: 2021, 2022
- Malaysia FA Cup: 2022, 2023
- Malaysia Cup: 2022
- Malaysia Charity Shield: 2021, 2022, 2023
Malaysia
- King's Cup runner-up: 2022
Individual
- Most Valuable Player (MVP) – Malaysia National Football Awards: 2021, 2022
- Best Striker Awards – Malaysia National Football Awards: 2021, 2022
- Best Young Player – Malaysia National Football Awards: 2021, 2022