Leading From the Front: Shamsuri Saleh's Hat-Trick Lifts ATM

Captaincy is most valuable when a team needs a lift, and ATM found exactly that in Shamsuri Saleh. The skipper produced a hat-trick to drive his side to their first win of the 2026 Malaysia Premier Futsal League season, a 5-3 victory over USM FC that owed everything to a leader determined to set the tone himself.

Mohd Shamsuri bin Saleh wears the armband for the armed forces side, and on this evidence he wears it well. ATM had endured a testing opening to the campaign, and the response demanded a figure willing to take responsibility. Shamsuri answered, opening the scoring with a well-struck effort on the turn before going on to complete his treble and decide the contest.

His second and third goals were the difference in a tight match. With the game finely balanced, the captain produced the finishes that turned a narrow lead into an unassailable one, and by full time he had not only secured the points but underlined his status as the focal point of ATM's attack. He has led the club's scoring charts, and performances like this show why.

The recognition followed naturally. Shamsuri was named Man of the Match, a fitting reward for a display that local observers described as a masterclass of leadership. It is the sort of evening that defines a season for a captain, the night the team needed him most and he delivered without fuss.

For ATM, coached by Izmir Firdaus Zainal Ariff, the win was about far more than two points becoming three. A first victory settles nerves, validates the work done on the training court and gives a squad something concrete to build on. Momentum in a long league season often starts with a single result, and a captain's hat-trick is a fine way to spark it.

There is something to admire, too, in a homegrown talisman thriving in a league increasingly shaped by its imports. Shamsuri is proof that Malaysian players can be the decisive figures in the MPFL, leading the line, wearing the armband and producing on the biggest nights. For young players watching, that example carries real weight.

The timing of the win mattered as much as the manner of it. Coming after a testing opening, the victory gave ATM proof that their approach was sound and that the goals would come once they held their nerve in front of goal. For a captain, leading that turnaround in person, with the match ball under his arm at full time, is the kind of evening that binds a squad to its leader for the rest of a campaign.

It also said something about the depth of local talent in the league. As imports take many of the headlines, a Malaysian forward producing a match-winning hat-trick is a reminder that the home-grown players remain central to the story. The best of them, Shamsuri among them, can carry a side on their own when the occasion calls for it.

ATM's season has a long way to run, but in their captain they have a player who leads by doing. Shamsuri Saleh stepped up when his team needed him, and the hat-trick that brought their first win of the campaign will not be the last time he carries them.