Former national football coach Datuk K. Rajagopal - Eye On The Ball gala premiere. IZZRAFIQ ALIAS / The Star. March 10, 2020.
PETALING JAYA: Is our national football team in dire straits? And is it time to press the panic button?
Well, former national coach Datuk K. Rajagopal and former international Razman Roslan are not that alarmed yet - they believe the team under South Korean Kim Pan-gon can still turn their fortunes around.
Malaysia are regrouping following the defeats to Oman in the World Cup 2026-Asian Cup 2027 second-round qualifiers. They lost with identical 0-2 scores to Oman in their Group D home and away games over the last one week in Muscat and Bukit Jalil respectively.
Rajagopal has faith in Pan-gon to help the team bounce back.
“The coach said he was responsible for the defeats. He knows what needs to be done to overcome the setback. He is involved with the players every day. He is the best person to come up with the answers,” said Rajagopal.
Malaysia had earlier started promisingly by winning against Taiwan and Kyrgyzstan last year in the qualifiers.
“Pan-gon knows how to play Taiwan and Kyrgyzstan and what needs to be done. He has to make some strong decisions. He will know what to do.”
Rajagopal, who coached the Harimau Malaya from 2009 to 2013, said the team should be ready for their return games against Taiwan and Kyrgyzstan in June.
“The local league would have started by the time the next qualifying matches against the Group D teams begin. I would suggest that they look at the positives and not dwell on the negatives,” he said.
“There should not be any finger-pointing right now. Pan-gon and Co have two more games to bounce back.’’
Razman, on the other hand, wants everyone to take collective responsibility for the defeats.
“Two consecutive defeats aren’t easy for the fans, especially after the 3-3 draw against South Korea (in the AFC Cup in January). It is disappointing,” said Razman, who played for Malaysia from 2009 to 2015.
“The players’ weaknesses were exposed and I saw that they played a different game compared to the one against South Korea but I’m sure coach Pan-gon saw it too.
“I hope he will assess and iron out the problems that need fixing by June.
“The players will need to forget about the defeat and bounce back. The chemistry and communication in defence have to be better so that we do not give away easy goals to our opponents.
“Coach Kim is a good manager, so that is why he has taken responsibility for every result that did not go our way. But every player has to take the responsibility too.
“I hope they will have better preparation. They need top quality friendly matches before the June matches.”
