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PETALING JAYA − Harimau Malaya’s new head coach Kim Pan-gon has vowed to take the national squad to the next level and beyond the Southeast Asian region in the future.
Pan-gon, who made his “debut” in Kelana Jaya today, is looking to lay a strong foundation and help the national team reach the World Cup finals someday.
Without specifying a definite timeline, the South Korean said he believed he could take Malaysia into the world’s biggest football tournament as Asia could be given up to nine slots in the future.
“We (including managerial team) will build a strong foundation first and move forward by focusing on the bigger picture, which is to get into the World Cup finals.
“In future World Cups, Asia could have nine slots to get into the final stage, so I think I’ll try to prepare for that,” he said in his first press conference since being appointed last month.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup to be held in three North American countries − Canada, Mexico and United States of America − will be the first edition to feature 48 teams instead of 32.
As the World Cup finals would be his long-term target, Pan-gon said he would also try to keep the fans happy by getting good results for the national team.
Realising the squad’s ability to make a huge impact in the future, Pan-gon said the players currently lacked confidence on the pitch.
“They (players) need to believe they are good enough, that they can reach beyond the Southeast Asian level… I will help them to gain full confidence and make the team really strong as one and united,” he said.
Asked about what attracted him to helm the national squad, the former Hong Kong head coach described the new project as “exciting” as Malaysia had great potential to go far.
“I can say that there is huge room for improvement and I can see a lot of potential if we can fix several things to make Malaysia go to the next level,” said the former South Korea Football Association national team director.
Pan-gon also admitted that being the new Harimau Malaya boss was the biggest challenge yet in his managerial career as he knew that the Malaysian fans would surely have high hopes that he can help the national team recapture its glory days.
The event also saw the introduction of his coaching line-up, namely assistant coach Pau Marti Vicente, goalkeeping coach Cho Jun-ho, fitness trainer Dr Gokhan Kandemir and analyst Lim Jaehun.
Pan-gon was appointed to replace Tan Cheng Hoe, who resigned last month after taking full responsibility for Malaysia’s poor performance at the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Cup in Singapore last December. – Bernama, February 17, 2022