Maldivian football icon and the most accomplished athlete in Maldivian sports Ali Ashfaq (Dhagandey) has played his 100th international match wearing the national jersey and has secured his place in FIFA's Century Club.
Last night was a historical night for Maldivian football on the pitch.
Maldives coach István Urbányi described it as a special and proud achievement in the history of Maldivian football.
Not a lot of South Asian players have played 100 matches for their national team. Few players such as two famous Indian legends Sunil Chhetri and Bhaichung Bhutia and former top Maldivian goalkeeper Imran Mohamed have had the honor of being placed in the Century Club.
Last night, Ashfaq was put on that last. He played his first match while wearing the national jersey in 2003. And in the last 23 years, he has scored 58 goals for the national team.
Ashfaq has also received the honor of being named the player who has scored the most goals in the history of the SAFF Championship. Along with that he is also one of the few players who has scored a double hat trick in a singular international game.
However, behind all of this are the sacrifices of obstacles filled with blood, sweat and exclusion.
The patriotic love Ashfaq has was seen in its purest form when Maldives won the gold medal in the 2008 SAFF Championship final.
During that match, an attack from an Indian player left Ashfaq bleeding from his head. Bandaging the injury did not stop the bleeding, with Ashfaq completing the match while in pain for his country.
However, Ashfaq was met with sad times during the 10-year celebration after the 2008 final in 2018. The Maldives coach at the time, Peter Segat, expelled Ashfaq from the national team as he failed to attend the press conference, with him being left out of the national team for about a year.
Experts in Maldivian football stated that it was an indescribable sadness for Maldives' football heritage.
Ashfaq's biggest weakness is that he is not a media-friendly player. Even though he is a public figure, he was not that fond of interviews and press conferences. For the long career that he has had, the amount of interviews he has done in front of the camera are incredibly low.
Along with that, Ashfaq having rejected the opportunity to play for Portugal's S.L. Benfica's B Team at the age of 18 was also a mistake on his part. He expressed his sadness in letting go of such an opportunity during a 2020 interview for FIFA's website.
Maldives' coach at the time, Portuguese Manuel Gonçalves Gomes, was the one who had gotten the opportunity for Ashfaq.
"I still think it would have been really good for him if he had made use of that opportunity," said Gomes in an interview he gave to Mihaaru News in 2024.
Maldives coach István Urbányi brought Ashfaq onto the pitch during the final minutes of their match against Afghanistan last night. Even though Maldives did not win, Urbányi said that it was a great achievement for Ashfaq.
"Lastly, I would like to congratulate Ali Ashfaq for playing his 100th match. We all know who Ashfaq is. Ashfaq texted me when I came to Maldives this time around, asking to meet me. I did not know why he wanted to meet," said Urbányi during the post game interview last night.
"I told him that we can meet at any time, night or day, because of the respect I have in my heart for him. Even if we lost the match, giving Ashfaq the opportunity to play his 100th match is a great achievement."
Along with Ashfaq being an excellent player on the field, he is a strong personality who has overcome all of the obstacles he has faced off the pitch as well. He has become a role model for the players of coming generations and for the current youth players as well.
