Nowadays, Faisal Halim steers clear of shopping centers.
When a routine shopping trip with his family changed his life for the better, one of Malaysia’s most well-known footballers, the forward was at the height of his career.
Faisal was sprayed with acid by an unidentified assailant at a mall in Kota Damansara, leaving him with fourth-degree burns, which required four surgeries and several days of intensive care.
Physically and emotionally he was left with repercussions from the attack.
Faisal, 27, tells BBC Sport, “I’m not scared, but I just don’t want that to happen again.”
“So I stop going out any more.” I return home after training to spend time with my wife, children, and family.
When Malaysia held South Korea’s Son Heung-min at the Asian Cup in January 2024, he had just three months earlier scored the most goals of his career for his nation.
Bayern Munich goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo and center-back Kim Min-jae were both left on the floor by the winger’s trickery inside the box before turning in a tight angle to draw a thrilling 3-3 draw.
However, fate conspired to alter his outlook on life and his blossoming career, which he had begun with the home state team Penang at age 17 and later grew to include Selangor.
After the attack, Faisal struggled with speech and mobility, so he was unable to touch a football for more than two months due to burns to his face, neck, shoulders, hands, and chest.
He recalls his time in a hospital, recalling that “every moment, I would get flashbacks.” “It was very difficult, and I had a bad mood. I was very moraled.”
“Many things have changed,” he said. I’m now unable to smile fully.
“Sometimes I would consider quitting football out of fear. But each day I get calls and messages. My wife used to read out all the fan messages while I was in the hospital because I couldn’t hold the phone.
Malaysia as a whole prayed for me. I felt more inspired to play once more.
Prior to the traumatic incident, Faisal made the bench in a Malaysian FA Cup semi-final match exactly 90 days after the traumatic incident.
Returning to the field had its challenges.
He was Selangor and Malaysia’s first name on the team’s roster when he was replaced, but Faisal believes the difficult times are now behind him.
He says, “I just want to play.” I’m 100% confident, normal, and confident. I’m prepared to play. I simply want more pitching time.
Selangor’s head coach, Katsuhito Kinoshi, takes inspiration from Faisal’s spirited comeback story.
Faisal needs to demonstrate his unbreakable and positive attitude to Malaysian fans and football, he continues.
In a stunning 7-0 victory against Kelantan Darul Naim in March 2025, he scored his first goal since recovering, kicking off Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic “siu” celebration. He added two more goals to add to the remarkable hat-trick that included two more.
Faisal scored twice in Malaysia’s 2-0 win over Nepal in the Asian Cup qualifiers on March 25 to earn his first minutes since the acid attack after the national team was called up.
Former assistant to Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, Malaysia’s Australian head coach Peter Cklamovski, said, “It’s exciting to watch Faisal in the national team setup.”
He plays a fantastic winger, an exciting player, and has the ability to “hurt up opponents” in front of opponents.
“Faisal does everything he does with intensity and intention. For him to return to the national team is a good idea, I’m sure of that. I believe he has a story to tell, and he deserves it.
For the first time since 1980, Malaysia, which is ranked 131st in the world, is competing against Vietnam, Nepal, and Laos to win back-to-back Asian Cups.
Faisal hopes to assist them in accomplishing their goal, having been chosen in the squad for the 10 June qualifier against Vietnam, who are Group F in terms of goals scored separated from Malaysia after one game.
He pledged to “get better than before,” and Kinoshi, a former assistant manager for Serbia, supported him in doing so.
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Source: BBC
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