Azwan Saleh

Azwan bin Muhamad Saleh (born 6 January 1988) is a Bruneian footballer who plays as a midfielder. His patronym is oftentimes erroneously written as Salleh. He is currently the player with the most international appearances for the Brunei national football team with 36 caps.

Club career

Azwan first played club football with Brunei Shell FT of the second division of the Brunei Premier League. He then moved to QAF FC of the B-League Premier I, gaining his first international appearances while his team was sent to represent the national team for regional qualifying tournaments of the likes of AFC Challenge Cup and the AFF Championship. He transferred to the under-21 team of DPMM in 2007, initially playing as a striker. He played deeper in midfield as the 2007-08 season progressed, which would be the final season DPMM played in Malaysia. Moving to the Singaporean S.League in 2009 with his club, he was a key player for Vjeran Simunić who deployed him on the left side of DPMM's midfield. Their season was ended abruptly due to FIFA's suspension of Brunei, but not before winning the League Cup.

Azwan was loaned to Indera SC in 2010 while his parent club were barred from playing in the S.League. The ban was lifted in 2012 and DPMM retained Azwan who started in their first game back against Tampines Rovers. They replicated their League Cup success that year, with Azwan scoring a direct free-kick in the final.

Due to the emergence of namesake Azwan Ali Rahman from 2014, Azwan switched to a more defensive role, surrendering the number 7 shirt in 2015. He played in 15 games, half of them substitute appearances as DPMM won their first S.League title. He scored his first league goal in 3 years against Geylang International on 5 August via a long-distance shot with his weaker right foot.

In 2022, Azwan added the Brunei FA Cup winner's medal to his collection by winning the trophy on 4 December against Kasuka FC 2–1 in the final on 4 December.

On 22 September 2024, Azwan was given a rare start in place of the unavailable Azwan Ali Rahman by head coach Jamie McAllister against title contenders BG Tampines Rovers who were unbeaten in the league at that point. Playing his namesake and club captain's central midfield role, he lasted the whole match in a remarkable 3–2 victory for DPMM who recorded their first win at their Bandar Seri Begawan home ground of the season. He would not make another appearance in the first eleven until 2 November against Albirex Niigata (S) where in the fifth minute of stoppage time, he gathered the ball just outside of the penalty box and released a strike from range that beat Hassan Sunny to win the match 2–3 to the away side.

International career

Azwan was a member of the Brunei Under-21s for the 2007 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy held in his home country. He also played for the Under-23s at the 2008 Sukma Games in Malaysia and captained the side at the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia.

Azwan holds the record number of appearances for Brunei, with 36 caps to his name. His debut came in the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup in a 0–1 loss against Sri Lanka in Bangladesh. He scored on two occasions in AFF Suzuki Cup qualifying, one against Timor-Leste in 2008, the other against Cambodia in 2012.

Azwan was appointed captain of the national team for the two-legged 2018 World Cup qualifier against Chinese Taipei. The team went down 0–2 at home after an encouraging 1–0 win at Kaohsiung. Azwan joined up with the Wasps for the 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup qualification held in Cambodia in October 2016. With Najib Tarif injured since the first game, he was placed at left-back in the third game against Laos which ended in a 4–3 loss.

Azwan started the first match of the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup in central midfield against Timor-Leste in Kuching, Malaysia. The match ended 4–0 to the Wasps in their biggest victory of date. He played a total of four games for the Wasps at central midfield in the tournament.

Azwan was in line for an international recall in June 2019 for the 2022 World Cup qualification matches against Mongolia, but made himself unavailable due to unspecified reasons. Three years later, he made his 27th international appearance against Malaysia away in Kuala Lumpur as a substitute in a 4–0 loss on 27 May. In the same year, he clocked another appearance from the bench against Laos in a 1–0 win at Bandar Seri Begawan on 27 September.

On 5 November 2022, Azwan scored the fourth goal against Timor-Leste in a 6–2 win for the Wasps at home in the 2022 AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup qualifying first leg match. He also made a substitute appearance at the return leg three days later, helping Brunei qualify for the tournament after last competing in 1996. He made three appearances in the group stage, including one from the starting lineup against the Philippines in a 5–1 defeat in Manila on 23 December.

In June 2024, Brunei played two friendly games against Sri Lanka at their home ground, coached by DPMM's Rui Capela who selected almost the entire squad including Azwan. He gained his 34th international cap in the second game on the 11th as a substitute, where Brunei managed a 1–0 victory. Later that year, he was selected for the away friendly against Russia on 15 November, and started the game in an 11–0 defeat.

Azwan was given the captain's armband in place of his namesake for the first group game of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifying against Lebanon which was hosted by Qatar on 25 March 2025. The Cedars ran out 5–0 winners at the end of the match.

International goals

Honours

DPMM
* S.League: 2015
* Singapore Premier League: 2019
* Singapore League Cup: 2009, 2012, 2014
* Brunei FA Cup: 2022

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azwan Saleh
1988 births
Living people
Bruneian Muslims
Bruneian men's footballers
Brunei men's international footballers
QAF FC players
DPMM FC players
Indera SC players
Men's association football midfielders
Competitors at the 2011 SEA Games
SEA Games competitors for Brunei
Brunei Super League players
Singapore Premier League players