Najib Tarif
Najib with DPMM in 2022
Personal information
Full name Mohamad Najib bin Haji Tarif
Date of birth (1988-02-05) 5 February 1988
Place of birth Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Midfielder, defender
Team information
Current team
 DPMM
Number 11
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 NBT
2008–2010 AM Gunners
2011–2012 MS PDB[1]
2012– DPMM 115 (1)
International career‡
2005–2014 Brunei U21
2011 Brunei U23 5 (1)
2008– Brunei 26 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 September 2023

Mohamad Najib bin Haji Tarif is a Bruneian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or defender for DPMM and the Brunei national team.[2]

Club career

Starting out with the likes of NBT FC and AM Gunners of the Brunei Premier League, Najib's performances at the 2012 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy as team captain prompted a move from MS PDB to Brunei's only professional club, DPMM.[3]

After appearing only seven times in the 2015 season, Najib's club head coach Steve Kean advised him to switch to the left-back position for him to gain playing time (as he has done to Helmi Zambin and Aminuddin Zakwan Tahir). A season-ending injury to first-choice Sairol Sahari meant that he would be relied on much more heavily in 2016.[4]

Najib became the starting left-back for DPMM's 2017 campaign which ended in a disappointing 8th place, leading to the dismissal of coach Steve Kean.[5][6] He was back on the sidelines with the arrival of Suhaimi Anak Sulau in the following season.[7]

Najib regained his place at the start of the 2019 campaign under Adrian Pennock.[8] He was rotated with Abdul Mu'iz Sisa for the position on the left of Pennock's 3-5-2 formation, becoming the starter towards the second half of the season. He became Singapore Premier League champion with DPMM by September of that year.[9]

Despite playing in the occasional advanced left-sided role for DPMM, Najib's first league goal for the club did not come until 4 July 2021 when he scored one of the 15 unanswered goals against Rimba Star FC in the Brunei Super League.[10]

In 2022, DPMM competed domestically at the 2022 Brunei FA Cup, managing to advance to the final of the competition with Najib appearing regularly at the left side of the lineup.[11] On 4 December, DPMM overcame Kasuka FC 2–1 in the final, handing them their second ever Brunei FA Cup trophy.[12]

International career

Najib has played for Brunei Under-21 since 2005,[13] and is the only player to have played in 4 Hassanal Bolkiah tournaments, winning the trophy in 2012. He regards his injury-time free-kick against Cambodia in that year's opening match as the best goal he has ever scored.[14]

Najib scored in Brunei Under-23's first match against Timor-Leste at the 2011 SEA Games football tournament, but the team lost 1–2. He then played in all five matches as Brunei finished fifth in their group.

Najib's full international debut for the Wasps came in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification held in the Philippines where he played in all three games. He was also ever-present for Brunei's AFF Suzuki Cup qualifying campaigns in 2012 and 2014. For the 2016 edition he was deployed at left-back, but did not finish the game due to injury which would keep him out of the rest of the games.[15]

Najib was in the list for the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup but initially did not travel with the rest of the squad.[16] Nevertheless, he recovered and made the starting lineup for the opening match, and kept his place at left-back for the whole tournament as Brunei finished in fourth place.[17]

Najib linked up with the Brunei national team for the two-legged 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup qualifying matches against Timor-Leste in early September 2018.[18] He started the first leg at left-back in a 3–1 loss on 1 September in Kuala Lumpur.[19] He kept his place in a more advanced role on the return leg at Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium a week later and scored the only goal of the game.[20] His winning goal gave Brunei their first ever home win for an international game, but the scoreline was not enough to qualify for the Suzuki Cup competition proper.

In June 2019, Najib was due to link up with the national team for the 2022 World Cup qualification matches against Mongolia, but pulled himself out of contention.[21]

Najib played in three friendly games for Brunei in 2022, against Malaysia away in May and against both the Maldives and Laos home in October.[22] He also played in both matches of the 2022 AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup qualifying against Timor-Leste, where the Wasps prevailed 6–3 on aggregate to qualify for the regional tournament for the first time in 26 years.[23] In the group stage, he played twice against powerhouses Thailand and Indonesia, both resulting in losses for Brunei.[24][25]

Although named in the 25-man Brunei squad for the 2026 World Cup qualification matches against Indonesia in October 2023,[26] as well as featuring in previous friendly matches in the year, Najib was left out of the matchday squad in both games.

International goals

Scores and results list Brunei's goal tally first.[27]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.8 September 2018Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Timor-Leste1–01–02018 AFF Championship qualification

Honours

Team

DPMM FC

International

Individual

  • Meritorius Service Medal (PJK) (2012)[28]

Personal life

Najib has nine siblings, one of which is Na'im Tarif who plays for MS PPDB.[29][30]

References

  1. ↑ "MS PDB bag 1st win in DST league". The Brunei Times. 28 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "DPMM REINFORCEMENTS FOR BRUNEI". ASEAN Football Federation. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  3. ↑ "DPMM FC get fresh legs". The Brunei Times. 5 April 2012. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "Sairol out for the season". The Brunei Times. 28 April 2016. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "DPMM FC AND GARENA YOUNG LIONS SHARE SPOILS". BruSports News. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  6. ↑ "Steve Kean, One-on-one: The reduction of foreign players in the S.League is "hard to understand"". FourFourTwo Singapore. 20 December 2017. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Behe and Iggy strike for Warriors but DPMM come back to earn SG Cup dra". FourFourTwo Singapore. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  8. ↑ "DPMM FC off to a winning start (2019)". Borneo Bulletin. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  9. ↑ "DPMM SPL champions as Hougang stumble". The Straits Times. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  10. ↑ "DPMM FC cruise to emphatic victory". Borneo Bulletin. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "Anticipation builds over FA Cup battle". Borneo Bulletin. 3 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  12. ↑ "Crown Prince joins group photo session with DPMM FC". Borneo Bulletin. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  13. ↑ "ASEAN U-21 Championship 2005 (Piala Hassanal Bolkiah)". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 22 June 2005. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  14. ↑ "Brunei skipper: It's the best goal I've ever scored". The Brunei Times. 27 February 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "Fatigue, injuries contribute to loss". The Brunei Times. 24 October 2016. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  16. ↑ "Helmi, Azwan join team for AFC Solidarity Cup". The Brunei Times. 1 November 2016. Archived from the original on 1 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  17. ↑ "Laos claim AFC Solidarity Cup third place". Asian Football Confederation. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  18. ↑ "Minister urges national team to make impact at AFF Suzuki Cup qualifier". Borneo Bulletin. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  19. ↑ "Timor Leste a step closer to reaching AFF Suzuki Cup". Fox Sports Asia. 2 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  20. ↑ "Brunei win 1-0 against Timor Leste but miss out on AFF final round". Borneo Bulletin. 9 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  21. ↑ "Brunei national team set to miss nine key players". Borneo Bulletin. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  22. ↑ "One match at a time". Borneo Bulletin. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  23. ↑ "BRUNEI QUALIFY FOR AFF CUP". BruSports News. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  24. ↑ "Brunei lose to Thailand in AFF meet". Borneo Bulletin. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  25. ↑ "Brunei lose 7-0 to Indonesia". Borneo Bulletin. 27 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  26. ↑ @fa.bruneidarussalam (9 October 2023). "Here's the 25 players that will be representing Brunei Darussalam in the World Cup Qualifiers". Retrieved 11 October 2023 – via Instagram.
  27. ↑ "Tarif, Mohd Najib". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  28. ↑ "Sultan sees HBT stars as nucleus of national team". Borneo Bulletin. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  29. ↑ "HRH Crown Prince with the champs". The Brunei Times. 3 March 2016. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  30. ↑ "Liga Super DST: MS PDB kecewakan Kota Ranger". Media Permata. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
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