Muhammad Rafli (born 24 November 1998) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays for Liga 1 club Arema. A versatile player, Rafli plays as a midfielder or

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, and has been deployed in a variety of attacking roles – as an attacking midfielder, second striker,

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

and on either wing. Rafli began to be known when he was selected in 2016 to attend the now-defunct Nike Academy, a program run by

Nike Inc. Nike, Inc. (stylized as NIKE) is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The company is head ...

for selected under-20 players scouted worldwide known as 'Nike Most Wanted' players. The only other Indonesian who participated in this academy was the national team's current playmaker Evan Dimas, in 2012.

Club career

Early career

He began to pursue soccer by entering the Aji Santoso International Football Academy (ASIFA) in his hometown of

Malang Malang (; ) is a landlocked List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of Singhasari, Singhasari Kingdom. It is the second most popul ...

. ASIFA, founded by former national team captain and coach

Aji Santoso Aji Santoso (born 6 April 1970 in Malang, East Java, Indonesia) is an Indonesian former professional footballer and currently the head coach of Persebaya. He was a left-back during his playing days, and was a regular for the Indonesia national foo ...

, is a feeder for Arema F.C. and other professional teams in East Java.

Arema FC

Rafli signed his first professional contract with Arema F.C. in January 2017. Rafli made his Arema debut on 23 April 2017 in a Liga 1 match against Bhayangkara in a 2–0 home win. He contributed with only 7 league appearances, without scoring during his 2017 season. On 27 April 2018, he made his first start and played the full 90 minutes for the first time, in a 3–1 win against Persipura Jayapura. On 14 October, Rafli provided an assist for Ahmad Nur Hardianto in a 2–1 lose over PSM Makassar. However, Rafli also made a blunder against the host's winning goal scored by Guy Junior Ondoua. He contributed with only 19 league appearances, without scoring during his 2018 season. In December 2018, he signed a new deal with Arema for two-years contract. On 18 February 2019, Rafli starting his match in 2019 season in the first leg of Arema'

2018–19 Piala Indonesia The 2018–19 Piala Indonesia (known as the Krating Daeng Piala Indonesia for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh edition of Piala Indonesia. It began with the first round on 8 May 2018, and concluded with the finals on 21 July and 6 August 2019. ...

round of 16 in a 1–1 draw against Persib Bandung. He also scored his first goal for Arema, scored in the 75th minutes. In the second leg in

four days later, Arema eventually draw the match 2–2, and were eliminated from the competition. Despite this, He won his second trophy with the club in April 2019, making first appearance for the first time until last appearances in the second leg of

2019 Indonesia President's Cup The 2019 Indonesia President's Cup ( id, Piala Presiden 2019) was the fourth edition of Indonesia President's Cup, held by the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) as a pre-season tournament for the 2019 Liga 1. The tournament started on 2 M ...

final against the rival Persebaya Surabaya. He scored his first Liga 1 goal on 2 October 2019. It was the first goal in a 0–2 victory against PSM Makassar. On 16 December 2019, he scored in a 3–2 win over Bali United. He contributed with 17 league appearances with four times as a starting, scored 2 goals and 1 assist during his 2019 season. Prior to the start of the 2020 season, Rafli switched his shirt number from 30 to 10, last season, the number was worn by Malian foreign player Makan Konaté, who has now left for rival club Persebaya Surabaya. On 2 March 2020, Rafli provided an assist for

Kushedya Hari Yudo Kushedya Hari Yudo (born 16 July 1993) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga 2 club RANS Nusantara. Club career Kalteng Putra After years of struggling in third-tier clubs on Indonesia's more developed island ...

in a 0–2 away win over TIRA-Persikabo at the Pakansari Stadium. Rafli only played 3 times and 1 assist for the club because the league was officially discontinued due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 3 October 2021, Rafli scored his first goal of the 2021–22 season, scoring from the free-kick in the 34th minute, final result, Arema win 3–0 over Persela Lamongan in the 2021–22 Liga 1. On 23 October, he scored the opening goal with scoring from the free-kick in the 4th minute, final result, Arema win 2–0 over Persiraja Banda Aceh. On 6 November, he scored in a

Super East Java Derby Super East Java derby is the name given in football rivalries to any match between two Indonesian football clubs: Arema (Galatama) and Persebaya Surabaya (Perserikatan). The fierce competition between both teams began in 1992 when Arema and Pe ...

against Persebaya Surabaya, final result, Arema draw 2–2. On 23 November 2021, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 home win against PS Barito Putera and scored the opening goal in a 1–2 away win against the same opponent on 2 March 2022. Rafli finished the season with 5 goals, 1 assist in 27 games.

International career

Rafli made his international debut for Indonesia U-19 on 14 September 2016 against Thailand U-19. and he scoring one goal against

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

on 18 September 2016. He made his international debut for Indonesia U-23 on 7 June 2019 against Thailand U-23 and scored three goals against Philippines U-23 on 9 June 2019, both at 2019 Merlion Cup. Rafli was part of the Indonesia team that won silver in the

2019 Southeast Asian Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, was the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport event which ...

in the Philippines. He received a call to join the senior Indonesia national football team in May 2021. He earned his first senior cap in a 25 May 2021 unofficial FIFA friendly match in Dubai against Afghanistan, in which he was also the team captain.

Career statistics

Club

International

International under-23 goals

Honours

Club

Arema * Indonesia President's Cup:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

International

;Indonesia U23 * Southeast Asian Games Silver medal:

Individual

* Merlion Cup Top Goalscorer:

(3 goals)

References

External links

*
Muhammad Rafli
at Liga Indonesia * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rafli, Muhammad 1998 births Living people Indonesian men's footballers Footballers from Malang Men's association football forwards Nike Academy players Arema F.C. players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players Footballers from East Java Indonesia men's youth international footballers Indonesia men's international footballers Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games SEA Games silver medalists for Indonesia SEA Games medalists in football 21st-century Indonesian people