GM: "Geng Married" is just a coincidence.

seeing how good he is in futsal, it's hard to believe that this guy only started playing futsal (only for fun, as he put it) when he's in RSMU. the Tae Kwon Do black belt holder chose martial arts over football in school, following his dad's suggestion to focus only in one arena of sports. call him a late-bloomer, but he's emerged as one of the most admired players in the league, and was honoured the title of Top Scorer for last season's RFL. this week, we'll go one-on-one with GM's Afiq Rushdi.


Tell us about your best moment in futsal.

maybe last season. alhamdulillah, we didn't plan on it but GM won three titles: 2nd runner-up, Best Player (Puyi) and Top Scorer (Myself). kami hanya buat yang terbaik. buat apa saja, biar sehabis baik!~



What about your worst moment?

it was the time when i tried out to be in the team for intervarsity games when i was in my 2nd and 3rd year but i was not selected. and last year when i represented RSMU for the intervarsity games in Nizhny, we had a good chance of winning but luck wasn't on our side. but i believe that things always happen for a reason, so no worries.



so based on your experience in the RSMU team and judging from performances of RFL teams this season, do you think we'd have a strong team for the upcoming Intervarsity Games?

yes, definitely. based on performances of the players and teams this season, i think we have a high chance of winning gold. especially when you look at teams like DNC, i think they have very good players to represent our uni.

Afiq and Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican

now let's focus on you. apa rahsia untuk jadi top scorer?

haha. no secrets. the most important thing is teamwork. dalam satu pasukan, tanpa persefahaman dan teamwork, kita takkan dapat cipta peluang untuk score. so, teamwork + chemistry = goal opportunity.


and as a striker, ada 3 perkara penting: 1) pandai cari ruang; 2) bertenang; 3) kawalan bola di hadapan gawang gol.



on GM's blog you mentioned that your favorite player is yourself. why?

actually it's more for a self-motivational purpose. it's a way to motivate myself to do the best. for example for last year's Fantasy Futsal i wrote my own name in all of my Dream Teams. it's a good self-motivator because it drove me to work harder to score goals, and get points for my Dream Team. at the end of the season, i won second place, just one point short of being number one.



can you elaborate a bit on GM's tagline "berdakwah sambil bersukan"?

as you all know, before GM, we were called TSP (Team Seluar Panjang). we wanted to portray the image of muslim sportsmen, and show (muslim) players in the league that we can still be one of the best while covering our aurat.



and how do you react when people dub GM as "Geng Married"?

haha. itu hanyalah tanggapan semata-mata. coincidentally, we have 4 married players in the team (Akmal, Fakhrul, Awe, Anep). pendek kata, itu hanyalah kebetulan. there are others in the team who's available too, you know.



haha. so are you?

i'm always available.



how far do you think GM will go this season?

based on the last few match (GM lost twice in two matches), i'd say that there's some changes that need to be done. we need more trainings together because this year we have a few new players so we need to build on the chemistry.

as for prospects, we don't put our hopes too high, but we'll do our best. kalau dapat Top 3, alhamdulillah. we promise to do our best. paling penting, niat dan tujuan asal kami (untuk menjadi contoh dalam tatacara sukan muslim) tercapai.



do you have anything more to say to our readers before we end the interview?

to all players, play well and enjoy yourselves. buat apa sahaja, biar sehabis baik!

to all muslim players, betulkan niat; main untuk apa, untuk siapa. insya Allah, permainan kita akan jadi suatu ibadah. wallahualam.