Moment to cherish: Kim Pan-gon (fourth from left) with his coaching staff at Espanyol’s training facility. — Photo by Espanyol
PETALING JAYA: If you ever think you know it all, it’s time to quit.
Just ask national football coach Kim Pan-gon, who believes in continuous learning.
And to show that he leads by example, the South Korean took his team of coaches for a study visit to Barcelona, thanks to an initiative mooted by La Liga.
La Liga has been doing their part to help Malaysian football clubs prosper through the participation of coaches and players based here with their clubs.
Pan-gon and the Harimau Malaya coaching staff, which included his assistant Pau Marti Vicente, goalkeeper coach Cho Jun-ho, physical conditioning coach Park Jih-yeon, and performance analysis coach Lim Jae-hun, had left on April 17 for a week and visited clubs like Espanyol, Barcelona and Real Mallorca.
Pan-gon was pleased with the visit.
“The coaches watched the training sessions of Barcelona, checked out the facilities, and we also watched games. Not only that, we have also learnt from clubs like Espanyol and Real Mallorca,” said Pan-gon in a statement issued by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
Pan-gon and Co visited Barcelona’s training centre, known as the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, where they watched training sessions conducted by Xavi Hernandez.
They also attended a methodology training session of more than two hours given by staff from Espanyol.
They also took a private tour of the Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque facilities, where all Espanyol teams train, attended the training sessions of the youth teams accompanied by the Spanish club’s methodology manager, and had a meeting with the coach of the Under-17 youth team and former Perico player Javi Chica.
“The delegation also watched the match between Espanyol and Cadiz CF (0-0), which took place at the RCDE Stadium (April 21), rounding off their immersion in the Perico club and Spanish football,” said a statement from La Liga.
Espanyol are one of La Liga’s flagship clubs. Founded in 1900, they were one of the founding members of the Spanish League (1928-29) and held the fifth-highest number of matches played in the history of La Liga to date.
Their experience in Spanish professional football, as well as a successful track record in grassroots football, make the Blanquiazul a perfect host for these educational visits.
Jordi Amat, now playing for Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), is just one of many internationally renowned players who have been trained at the Espanyol Academy and first team.
In 2020, Malaysia’s Under-23 goalkeeper Sikh Izhan Sikh Nazrel went on a trial with La Liga 2 club Fuenlabrada.
The club voiced their interest in him after his impressive outing in the 2020 Malaysian League with Selangor II.
And since returning to Malaysia last year in January, Izhan, 21, who now plays for Negri Sembilan, has looked like a completely different player and is one of the top goalies in the league.
He was also recently selected by Pan-gon for the national team, which bodes well for his development.
Izhan is also part of the SEA Games squad in Cambodia.
“It’s a good club with a good culture. I like Fuenlabrada because the training centre is very modern and different compared to the ones we have. I like their stadium the most,” said Izhan.
“I learnt a lot from my time there, and I could incorporate some of their training elements into my game. I am growing, and hopefully, I can get an opportunity like that again, this time permanently.”
It is hoped that these developments will lead to more of our talents heading to Spain and bringing their know-how to the Malaysian game.
