PETALING JAYA: Will there be a South Korean to take over E. Elavarasan’s job as the coach of Malaysia’s Under-23 team?
The 61-year-old Elavarasan has officially relinquished his position after a year as the junior coach and will return to his duty as the assistant to national head coach Kim Pan-gon ahead of the senior team’s preparation for the AFC Asian Cup in January next year.
Elavarasan took over the Under-23 gig on Sept 1 last year after replacing Australian Brad Maloney.
He came under fire despite taking his team to next year’s Asian Cup in Qatar as the fourth best team. Some felt that his boys lacked the tactical approach and questioned his coaching credibility.
Former South Korean international Kim Dong-jin is linked to the job as he used to work with Pan-gon in Hong Kong.
Other names include Selangor assistant coach Nidzam Jamil, Kedah coach Nafuzi Zain and Malaysia Under-23 assistant coach Juan Torres Garrido.
Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman said Elavarasan and president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin had a meeting after the qualifiers in Chonburi, Thailand.
“They had a discussion and agreed that the latter should return to focus on his responsibilities as the national assistant coach. FAM will find another coach to shoulder the duties of the Under-23 team,” said Azman.
“The successor will only be announced later after discussion with the parties involved.”
Besides the qualification to the Asian Cup, the team under Elavarasan also won the Merlion Cup in Singapore last March and qualified for the semi-finals of the AFF Under-23 Championship in Rayong,Thailand in August.
