2023 Kedah Darul Aman F.C. season

Kedah Darul Aman
2023 season
Owner	Mohd Daud Bakar
CEO	Khamal Idris Ali
Head coach	Nafuzi Zain
Stadium	Darul Aman Stadium; (Capacity: 32,387)
Malaysia Super League	4th
Malaysia FA Cup	First Round
Malaysia Cup	Round of 16
Top goalscorer	League: ; Ifedayo Olusegun (12); All: ; Ifedayo Olusegun (12)
Average home league attendance	8,650
Home colours	Away colours

The 2023 season was Kedah Darul Aman's 15th season in the Malaysia Super League since the league's inception in 2004.

Management Team

Position	Name
Head coach	Nafuzi Zain^[1]
Assistant head coach	Victor Andrag
Goalkeeper coach	Mohd Yazid Mohd Yassin
Assistant Goalkeeper coaches	Abdul Hadi Abdul Hamid
Fitness coaches	Antonio Silvio Santos Concalves
Team Doctor	Jasminder Singh
Physiotherapist	Helber Richard Quintana Silva
Physiotherapist	Shukri Che Zakaria
Team coordinator	Zul Fadli Rozi
Team admin	Shahrul Samsudin
Team security	Zaiyadur Rashad
Team media	Tajul Arifin
Team analyst	Hazwan Nizam Fazil
Masseur	Hazwan Zikri
Kitman	Taufiq Mahar
	Fakhruddin Abdul Aziz
	Fahmi Irfan

Squad

As of 8 January 2023

No.	Name	Date of birth (Age)	Last club	Contract since	Contract ends
Goalkeepers
1	Ifwat Akmal	(1996-08-10) 10 August 1996	Youth team	2016	2023
22	Kalamullah Al-Hafiz	(1995-07-30) 30 July 1995	Petaling Jaya City	2023	2024
33	Fikri Che Soh	(1998-02-01) 1 February 1998	Kelantan United	2023	2024
Defenders
2	Akmal Zahir	(1994-02-16) 16 February 1994	Melaka United	2022	2023
3	Rodney Celvin	(1996-11-25) 25 November 1996	Selangor	2021	2023
4	Bojan Ciger	(1994-06-18) 18 June 1994	PFC Navbahor Namangan	2023	2023
5	Alan Robertson	(1994-02-17) 17 February 1994	United City	2023	2023
13	Loqman Hakim	(1998-01-22) 22 January 1998	Youth team	2020	2023
15	Heshamudin Ahmad	(1999-02-15) 15 February 1999	Youth team	2022	2023
18	Wan Amirul Afiq	(1992-07-18) 18 July 1992	Melaka United	2023	2024
27	Ariff Farhan	(1996-07-14) 14 July 1996	FELDA United	2021	2023
31	Azrin Afiq	(2002-01-02) 2 January 2002	Selangor	2023	2023
66	Kamil Akmal Halim	(1999-02-14) 14 February 1999	Youth team	2020	2023
Midfielders
6	Amirbek Juraboev	(1996-04-13) 13 April 1996	United City	2022	2023
8	Manny Ott	(1992-05-06) 6 May 1992	Terengganu	2022	2023
10	Lee Tuck	(1988-06-30) 30 June 1988	Sri Pahang	2023	2023
11	Al-Hafiz Harun	(1994-04-13) 13 April 1994	Penang	2022	2023
17	Faizal Talib	(1997-07-28) 28 July 1997	Melaka United	2023	2024
19	Aiman Afif	(2001-02-18) 18 February 2001	Youth team	2021	2023
20	Fadzrul Danel	(1998-01-14) 14 January 1998	Youth team	2019	2023
21	Fayadh Zulkifli	(1998-09-13) 13 September 1998	Youth team	2019	2023
29	Mior Dani	(1999-01-19) 19 January 1999	Kelantan	2023	2023
77	Amirul Hisyam	(1995-05-05) 5 May 1995	Harimau Muda B	2015	2023
Strikers
9	Willian Lira	(1993-12-09) 9 December 1993	Ventforet Kofu	2023	2023
70	Ebenezer Assifuah	(1993-07-03) 3 July 1993	Pau	2023	2023
88	Manuel Hidalgo	(1999-05-03) 3 May 1999	Sri Pahang	2023	2023
89	Jonathan Balotelli	(1989-04-20) 20 April 1989	Pau	2023	2023

Friendlies

Pre-season

20 January 2023 1	Kedah Darul Aman	2–0	Kelantan	Alor Setar
	Lira 53', 84'			Stadium: Darul Aman Stadium

24 January 2023 2	Kedah Darul Aman	6–0	FAM-MSN Project	Alor Setar
	Lee Tuck 22', 27' Lira 23' Juraboev 38', goal' (51), o.g.' Al-Hafiz 90' (pen.)			Stadium: Darul Aman Stadium

2023 Harapan Cup (1–4 February)

2 February 2023 1	Kedah Darul Aman	0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–6 p)	Selangor	Penang
				Stadium: Penang State Stadium
	Penalties
	Lira Hidalgo Tuck Juraboev Ciger Amirul Hisyam Al-Hafiz		Ayron Noor Mukhairi Cheng Faisal Yazan Htet Aung

4 February 2023 2	Kedah Darul Aman	2–1	Geylang International	Penang
	Zharmein 31' Al-Hafiz 37'		Bezecourt 40'	Stadium: Penang State Stadium

Tour of Turkey (4–9 February)

9 February 2023 1	Kedah Darul Aman	1–2	FC Nasaf	Antalya
	Lira 58'		Norchaev 80', 84' (pen.)	Stadium: S&B Football Complex

10 February 2023 2	Kedah Darul Aman	0–2	FC Shakhter Karagandy	Antalya
				Stadium: S&B Football Complex

12 February 2023 3	Kedah Darul Aman	1–2	FC Maktaaral	Antalya
	Lee Tuck 72'			Stadium: Limak Arcadia Sport Center

14 February 2023 4	Kedah Darul Aman	0–2	FC Metalist Kharkiv	Antalya
				Stadium: Ekodizayn Spor Kompleksi

Competitions

Malaysia Super League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
2	Selangor	26	20	1	5	72	22	+50	61	Qualification for the AFC Champions League Two group stage^[a]
3	Sabah	26	17	3	6	64	33	+31	54
4	Kedah Darul Aman	26	17	2	7	52	29	+23	53
5	Sri Pahang	26	13	6	7	44	33	+11	45
6	Terengganu	26	11	7	8	45	34	+11	40	Qualification for the AFF Shopee Cup group stage^[b]

Source: MFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.
Notes:

^ Since the winners of the 2023 Malaysia FA Cup (Johor Darul Ta'zim) qualified for Asian competition based on their league positions, the berths awarded to the 2nd-placed team in the league.
^ Qualified as the 2023 Malaysia Cup & 2023 Malaysia FA Cup runner-up.

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
8	5	1	2	13	11	+2	16	3	0	1	5	1	+4	2	1	1	8	10	−2

Source: FAM-CMS

Fixtures and results

Win Draw Loss

25 February 2023 1	Perak	1–4	Kedah Darul Aman	Ipoh
21:00 UTC+08:00	Ikhwan 3' Haziq 35' Imran 67' Afolabi 78'	Report	Lee Tuck 17' Lira 20', 66' (pen.) Akmal 60' Ariff 84' Balotelli 90+3', 90+3'	Stadium: Perak Stadium Attendance: 15,106 Referee: Zulkarnain Zakaria

1 March 2023 2	Kedah Darul Aman	1–0	Terengganu	Alor Setar
21:00 UTC+08:00	Fadzrul 90'	Report	Mamut 67'	Stadium: Darul Aman Stadium Attendance: 21,700 Referee: S. Logeswaran

4 March 2023 3	Kedah Darul Aman	0–1	PDRM	Alor Setar
21:00 UTC+08:00	Ott 58' Ariff 79' Fayadh 83' Fadzrul 90+2'	Report	Safiee 58' Fadi 72' Suzuki 75' Arif 83' Norfiqrie 90+3'	Stadium: Darul Aman Stadium Attendance: 12,792 Referee: Mohd Azizan Saat Ariffin

13 March 2023 4	Kelantan United	2–3	Kedah Darul Aman	Kota Bharu
21:00 UTC+08:00	Indra 4' Devid 21' Victor 89' (pen.) Asraff 90'	Report	Lira 34' Hidalgo 44' (pen.) Afiq 72' Al-Hafiz 89'	Stadium: Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium Attendance: 1,954 Referee: Fitri Maskon

17 March 2023 5	Kedah Darul Aman	3–0	Kuching City	Alor Setar
21:00 UTC+08:00	Akmal 28', 49' Hidalgo 58'	Report		Stadium: Darul Aman Stadium Attendance: 7,662 Referee: Zamzaidi Katimin

1 April 2023 6	Sri Pahang	1–1	Kedah Darul Aman	Kuantan
22:00 UTC+08:00	Brundo 62' (pen.)	Report	Ariff 61' Hidalgo 72' Balotelli 90+2'	Stadium: Darul Makmur Stadium Attendance: 7,296 Referee: Razlan Joffri Ali

5 April 2023 7	Kedah Darul Aman	1–0	Penang	Alor Setar
22:00 UTC+08:00	Juraboev 26' Afiq 34' 54' Ariff 37' Lira 65'	Report	Rafael 47' Faris 72'	Stadium: Darul Aman Stadium Attendance: 3,230 Referee: Mohd Hasrol Mohd Amir

9 April 2023 8	Johor Darul Ta'zim	6–0	Kedah Darul Aman	Iskandar Puteri
22:00 UTC+08:00	Forestieri 23', 45' Feroz 48' Arribas 50' Bergson 53pen.' Arif 77' Velázquez 86'	Report	Ott 15'	Stadium: Sultan Ibrahim Stadium Attendance: 13,722 Referee: Razlan Joffri Ali

18 April 2023 9	Kedah Darul Aman	2-3	Kuala Lumpur City	Alor Setar
22:00 MYT (UTC+08:00)	Jonathan Balotelli 25’ Bojan Ciger 30’	Report	Paulo Josué 11’ Romel Morales 48’ Ryan Lambert 58’' Caion 75’	Stadium: Darul Aman Stadium Attendance: 2,590 Referee: Nazmi Nasaruddin

28 April 2023 10	Negeri Sembilan	1-2	Kedah Darul Aman	Paroi
20:15 MYT (UTC+08:00)	Nasrullah Hanif 9' Zainal Abidin 35' Zamri Pin Ramli 65' Che Rashid 70' Annas Rahmat 90'	Report	Willian Lira 30, 72' 86' Ariff Farhan 81' Kalamullah Al-Hafiz 84'	Stadium: Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium Attendance: 2,348 Referee: Tuan Mohd Yaasin bin Tuan Mohd Hanafiah

19 May 2023 11	Kedah Darul Aman	5-0	Kelantan	Alor Setar
21:00 (UTC+08:00)	Manny Ott 16' Lee Tuck 28' Manuel Hidalgo 47' Willian Lira Kamil Akmal 69' Jonathan Balotelli 89'	Report	Yusri Yuhasmadi 80' Khairul Helmi 86'	Stadium: Darul Aman Stadium Attendance: 3,320 Referee: Razlan Joffri Ali

24 May 2023 12	Selangor	3-2	Kedah Darul Aman	Petaling Jaya
21:00 (UTC+08:00)	Ayron del Valle 23' Faisal Halim 40' Noor Al-Rawabdeh 78'	Report	Juraboev 6' Willian Lira 28' Kamil Akmal 45+3' , 75'	Stadium: Petaling Jaya Stadium Attendance: 10,689 Referee: Nazmi Nasaruddin

1 June 2023 13	Kedah Darul Aman	2-1	Sabah	Alor Setar
21:00 (UTC+08:00)	Lee Tuck 40, 72' 90+2' Bojan Ciger 60' Ifwat Akmal 90+4'	Report	Gabriel Peres 8' Baddrol Bakhtiar 26' Irfan Zakaria 45+2'	Stadium: Darul Aman Stadium Attendance: 9,741 Referee: Tuan Mohd Yaasin bin Tuan Mohd Hanafiah

Malaysia FA Cup

8 March 2023 First round	Kedah Darul Aman	2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)	Penang	Alor Setar
21:00 UTC+08:00	Ott 9', 90'	Report	Gomes 22' Saad 68'	Stadium: Darul Aman Stadium Attendance: 13,768 Referee: Razlan Joffri Ali
	Penalties
	Hidalgo Balotelli Tuck Juraboev Ciger		Zaw Rafael Hadin Faris

Malaysia Cup

3 August 2023 Round of 16	Perak	3-1	Kedah	Ipoh
20:15 MYT (UTC+08:00)	Luciano Guaycochea 48' (pen.) Luka Milunovic 55' Sunday Afolabi 65' Hakimi Mat Isa 86'	Report	Manuel Ott 1' Rodney Celvin 61' Manuel Hidalgo 90+3'	Stadium: Perak Stadium Attendance: 4, 088 Referee: Usaid Jamal

18 August 2023 Round of 16	Kedah Darul Aman	2-1 (3-4 agg.)	Perak	Alor Setar
21:00 MYT (UTC+08:00)	Manuel Hidalgo 28' (pen.) Akmal Zahir 83'	Report	Luciano Guaycochea 32' Sunday Afolabi 74' Afif Asyraf 76' Seo Seonung 85'	Stadium: Darul Aman Stadium Attendance: 9, 110 Referee: Razlan Joffri Ali

Transfers and contracts

Transfers in

Pre-season

Position	Player	Transferred From	Ref
GK	Kalamullah Al-Hafiz	Petaling Jaya City	Free ^[2]
MF	Amirbek Juraboev	United City	Free ^[3]
GK	Fikri Che Soh	Kelantan United	Free
MF	Manny Ott	Terengganu	Free
DF	Wan Amirul Afiq	Melaka United	Free
FW	Faizal Talib	Melaka United	Free
MF	Zharmein Ashraf	Sarawak United	Free
FW	Lee Tuck	Sri Pahang	Free
DF	Alan Robertson	United City	Free
DF	Bojan Ciger	PFC Navbahor Namangan	Free
FW	Willian Lira	Ventforet Kofu	Free
FW	Manuel Hidalgo	Sri Pahang	Undisclosed Fee
FW	Jonathan Balotelli	Jeonnam Dragons	Undisclosed Fee

Loan in

Pre-season

Position	Player	Transferred From	Ref
DF	Azrin Afiq	Selangor	Season Loan
MF	Mior Dani	Kelantan	Season Loan

Transfers out

Pre-season

Position	Player	Transferred To	Ref
GK	Ilham Amirullah Razali	Kelantan United	Free
GK	Shahril Saa'ri		Released
DF	Marc Vales		Released
DF	Syazwan Tajudin	BRM FC	Free
DF	Amirul Azhan	Harini Selangor	Free
DF	Azmeer Aris	Penang	Free
MF	Asnan Ahmad	Penang	Free
MF	Khairu Azrin Khazali	Kelantan United	Free
MF	Amer Azahar	Penang	Free
MF	Syazwan Zainon	Kelantan United	Free
MF	Dechi Marcel		Released
MF	Sanrawat Dechmitr	Bangkok United F.C.	End of Loan
MF	Azamuddin Akil		Released
FW	Mahmoud Al-Mardi	Qadsia SC	Free
FW	Ronald Ngah		Released
FW	Afeeq Iqmal		Released
FW	Fikhri Zulkiflee		Released

Loan Out

Pre-season

Position	Player	Transferred To	Ref

Loan Return

Mid-season

Position	Player	Transferred To	Ref

Retained / Promoted

Pos	Player	Source
DF	Loqman Hakim	1 year contract signed in 2022 till 2023
DF	Heshamudin Ahmad	1 year contract signed in 2022 till 2023
MF	Kamil Akmal Halim	1 year contract signed in 2022 till 2023
MF	Al-Hafiz Harun	1 year contract signed in 2022 till 2023

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Players with no appearances not included in the list.

As of match played 9 April 2023

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Malaysia Cup		Total
No.	Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Ifwat Akmal	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF	Akmal Zahir	18	2	1	0	1	0	0	0
3	DF	Rodney Celvin	13	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
4	DF	Bojan Ciger	25	1	1	0	2	0	0	0
5	DF	Alan Robertson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	MF	Amirbek Juraboev	23	6	1	0	2	0	0	0
8	MF	Manny Ott	23	3	1	2	2	1	0	0
9	FW	Willian Lira	14	8	1	0	0	0	0	0
10	MF	Lee Tuck	15	5	1	0	0	0	0	0
11	MF	Al-Hafiz Harun	12	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
12	FW	Ifedayo Olusegun	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
13	DF	Loqman Hakim	7	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
15	DF	Heshamudin Ahmad	7	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
16	MF	Partiban Janasekaran	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
17	MF	Faizal Talib	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	DF	Wan Amirul Afiq	24	1	1	0	2	0	0	0
19	MF	Aiman Afif	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	MF	Fadzrul Danel	18	2	1	0	1	0	0	0
21	MF	Fayadh Zulkifli	24	0	1	0	2	0	0	0
22	GK	Kalamullah Al-Hafiz	21	0	1	0	2	0	0	0
25	MF	Moses Atede	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
27	MF	Ariff Farhan	23	2	1	0	2	0	0	0
29	MF	Mior Dani	9	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
31	DF	Azrin Afiq	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	GK	Fikri Che Soh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
66	DF	Kamil Akmal Halim	10	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
70	FW	Ebenezer Assifuah	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
77	MF	Amirul Hisyam	14	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
79	MF	Zharmein Ashraf	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
88	FW	Manuel Hidalgo	24	3	1	0	2	0	0	0
89	FW	Jonathan Balotelli	20	4	1	0	1	0	0	0

Goalscorers

As of 14 April 2024

Rank	Player	League	FA Cup	Malaysia Cup	Total^[4]
1	Ifedayo Olusegun	12	0	0	12
2	Willian Lira	8	0	0	8
3	Amirbek Juraboev	6	0	0	6
3	Manuel Ott	3	2	1	6
4	Lee Tuck	5	0	0	5
5	Manuel Hidalgo	3	0	1	4
5	Jonathan Balotelli	4	0	0	4
6	Akmal Zahir	2	0	1	3
7	Fadzrul Danel	2	0	0	2
7	Ariff Farhan	2	0	0	2
8	Wan Amirul Afiq	1	0	0	1
	Al-Hafiz Harun	1	0	0	1
	Bojan Ciger	1	0	0	1
	Partisan Janasekaran	1	0	0	1
	Moses Atede	1	0	0	1
Total		52	2	3	57

References

^ "Nafuzi Zain sah jurulatih Sang Kenari". 6 December 2022.
^ "Kalamullah Aset Terbaru Kedah".
^ "Kedah ikat Amirbek Juraboev". 10 December 2022.
^ "Super League Statistic". FAM-CMS. Football Association of Malaysia.

[table_note_res_ACL20.53935214390017-2] Since the winners of the 2023 Malaysia FA Cup (Johor Darul Ta'zim) qualified for Asian competition based on their league positions, the berths awarded to the 2nd-placed team in the league.

[table_note_res_ACC0.53935214390017-3] Qualified as the 2023 Malaysia Cup & 2023 Malaysia FA Cup runner-up.

[1] "Nafuzi Zain sah jurulatih Sang Kenari". 6 December 2022.

[4] "Kalamullah Aset Terbaru Kedah".

[5] "Kedah ikat Amirbek Juraboev". 10 December 2022.

[FAM-6] "Super League Statistic". FAM-CMS. Football Association of Malaysia.

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