IT'S going to be Saturday night fever. The Malaysian football fraternity is abuzz with excitement that Safawi Rasid could make his debut in the Portuguese Primeira Liga tomorrow.
Fans will hope that the JDT striker, who is on a one-year loan to Portimonense SC, will get to see action against CS Maritimo and display his silky skill.
If Safawi does travel with the Portimonense team for the away game, it will be an inspiring trip, as the match is at Cristiano Ronald's hometown, Funchal, the capital of Madeira.
No Malaysian footballer has single handedly "influenced" a match to be telecast live; not even a team. But Astro Arena has decided to telecast the Maritimo-Portimonense match live at 10pm. This shows there is so much fan interest in Safawi, currently hailed as Malaysia's finest footballer.
The 25-year-old from Dungun has caused a stir in the Portuguese football scene as the "eyeballs" have tripled with an increase in "likes" and retweets about the Malaysian star on the Primeira Liga's official social media pages.
Safawi, who left Johor Baru immediately after helping JDT win their seventh consecutive Super League title, arrived in Portugal on Oct 3, and was unveiled to the Portuguese media just three days after his arrival.
The striker has since been training with the Portimonense players at Estadio Municipal de Portimao.
HIGH EXPECTATIONS
Portimonense have made no secret of their high expectations from Safawi with their president of football operations Rodiney Sampaio saying he hopes the Malaysian will turn out to be like the club's former ace, Shoya Nakajima, regarded as Japan's new generation of stars.
Sampaio described Safawi as the "Malaysian reinforcement" for Portimonense. Yes, Portimonense do need reinforcement, and Safawi could be the answer to their struggles.
Portimonense are lying 16th out of 18 clubs in the Primeira Liga with only a point to their name. They had scored only one goal in three matches and conceded four. Safawi could be the answer to their frontline problem.
But Safawi's team face an uphill task; Maritimo are in a much higher place in the table, fifth with six points from three matches.
There will be much interest from Southeast Asia when Portimonense take on Maritimo. It's not only the Safawi factor. Maritimo have on their team, Brunei's midfielder Faiq Jefri Bolkiah, dubbed as the "richest footballer in the world". So, the two Asean men could cross paths on the field.
However, it remains to be seen whether Safawi will get to take to the field as he has just been in Portugal for about two weeks. But a desperate Portimonense probably can't wait to use their 'Malaysian reinforcement'.