Azwan Saleh

Azwan bin Muhamad Saleh (born 6 January 1988) is a Bruneian footballer who plays for DPMM FC as a midfielder or left-sided full-back.[1][2] His patronym is sometimes erroneously written as Salleh.

In this Malay name, there is no family name. The name Saleh is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Azwan.
Azwan Saleh
Personal information
Full name Azwan bin Muhamad Saleh
Date of birth (1988-01-06) 6 January 1988
Place of birth Brunei
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Midfield, Left-back
Club information
Current team
 DPMM FC
Number 6
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2006 QAF FC
2006– DPMM FC (10)
2010–2011 → Indera SC (loan)
National team‡
2007 Brunei U21 3 (0)
2011 Brunei U23 4 (0)
2006– Brunei 26 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 June 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2016

Club career

Azwan first played club football with QAF FC in the B-League Premier I, gaining his first international appearances while his team was sent to represent the national team for regional qualifying tournaments of the likes of AFC Challenge Cup and the AFF Championship.[3] He transferred to the under-21 team of DPMM in 2007, initially playing as a striker.[4] He played deeper in midfield as the 2007-08 season progressed, which would be the final season DPMM played in Malaysia.[5] Moving to the Singaporean S.League in 2009 with his club, he was a key player for Vjeran Simunić who deployed him on the left side of DPMM's midfield.[6] Their season was ended abruptly due to FIFA's suspension of Brunei, but not before winning the League Cup.[7]

Azwan was loaned to Indera SC in 2010 while his parent club were barred from playing in the S.League.[8] The ban was lifted in 2012 and DPMM retained Azwan who started in their first game back against Tampines Rovers.[9] They replicated their League Cup success that year, with Azwan scoring a direct free-kick in the final.[10]

Due to the emergence of namesake Azwan Ali Rahman from 2014, Azwan switched to a more defensive role, surrendering the number 7 shirt in 2015.[1] He played in 15 games, half of them substitute appearances as DPMM won their first S.League title. He scored his first league goal in 3 years against Geylang International on 5 August via a long-distance shot with his weaker right foot.[11]

International career

Azwan was a member of the Brunei Under-21s for the 2007 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy held in his home country. He also played for the Under-23s at the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia.

Azwan holds the record number of appearances, with 26 caps to his name. His debut came in the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup in a 0–1 loss against Sri Lanka in Bangladesh. He scored on two occasions in AFF Suzuki Cup qualifying, one against Timor-Leste in 2008, the other against Cambodia in 2012.

Azwan was appointed captain of the national team for the two-legged 2018 World Cup qualifier against Chinese Taipei.[12] The team went down 0–2 at home after an encouraging 1–0 win at Kaohsiung.[13][14] Azwan joined up with the Wasps for the 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup qualification held in Cambodia in October 2016. With Najib Tarif injured since the first game, he was placed at left-back in the third game against Laos which ended in a 4–3 loss.[15]

Azwan started the first match of the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup in central midfield against Timor-Leste in Kuching, Malaysia. The match ended 4–0 to the Wasps in their biggest victory of date.[16] He played a total of four games for the Wasps at central midfield in the tournament.

Azwan was in line for an international recall in June 2019 for the 2022 World Cup qualification matches against Mongolia, but made himself unavailable due to unspecified reasons.[17]

International goals
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.21 October 2008National Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Timor-Leste3–04–12008 AFF Suzuki Cup qualification
2.9 October 2012Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, Cambodia3–13–22012 AFF Suzuki Cup qualification

Honours

Team
DPMM FC

References
  1. "Azwan, Shahrazen adjusts to life on the bench". The Brunei Times. 7 March 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  2. "Team owned by Brunei Crown Prince splits Cambodia pre-season tour". Khmer Times. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  3. "QAF FC For AFF Challenge". Borneo Bulletin. 7 February 2007. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  4. "Tricky trip for injury-plagued DPMM". The Brunei Times. 10 March 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  5. "Penang force DPMM draw". The Brunei Times. 6 April 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  6. "DPMM FC out to maul Lions". The Brunei Times. 16 May 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  7. "Wardun saves the day as DPMM FC win League Cup". The Brunei Times. 20 June 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  8. "Indera rely on DPMM FC connection". The Brunei Times. 2 April 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  9. "DPMM FC vs 'Barca'". The Brunei Times. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  10. "Azwan Salleh - Brunei's own free-kick specialist". The Brunei Times. 13 August 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  11. "DPMM FC top table". The Brunei Times. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  12. "'Biggest game of my life'". The Brunei Times. 17 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  13. "Brunei make history". The Brunei Times. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  14. "World Cup dreams over". The Brunei Times. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  15. "Brunei put up strong fight". The Brunei Times. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  16. "Brunei beat Timor Leste". The Brunei Times. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  17. "Brunei national team set to miss nine key players". Borneo Bulletin. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
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