National football head coach Ong Kim Swee with his players during a training session last year. - The STAR Filepic
PETALING JAYA: Datuk Ong Kim Swee’s dream has finally come true.
On Monday, the 45-year-old was named as head coach of the national football team after serving two stints as interim coach.
Kim Swee was picked ahead of two other candidates – Croatian Bojan Hodak and Dutchman Robert Alberts – by the Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) special task force headed by Datuk Mokhtar Ahmad.
Kim Swee will officially sign a two-year contract with the FAM on Tuesday.
His goals for this year?
Win the AFF Suzuki Cup in December. Improve the team’s world ranking from 170 to 140. And take Malaysia to the 2019 Asian Cup Finals.
The 45-year-old thanked the FAM for giving him the chance to lead the national team.
“The Key Performance Index (KPI) set by the management is a big challenge and I have submitted my plans for the team. If the plans go through, we will have a well-structured progress,” said the Malacca-born former international.
“There’s no way we can leap from 170 in the world to 140 in a such a short time but I will work on improving the ranking.
“The plan is to play 10 international friendlies to improve our ranking. Hopefully, we can play against lower-ranked European teams to get more ranking points.”
Kim Swee first served as interim coach in 2014 after Datuk K. Rajagopal’s contract was not extended. The FAM then appointed Dollah Salleh as head coach.
Dollah, however, resigned on Sept 4 last year after Malaysia’s 10-0 humiliating loss to the United Arab Emirates in a World Cup qualifying match in Abu Dhabi.
Kim Swee was again called up to serve as interim coach. He managed one win and three losses in the qualifiers.
Kim Swee’s first match was against Saudi Arabia on Sept 8. It was abandoned due to crowd trouble in the 88th minute with Malaysia trailing 1-2. FIFA later awarded Saudi Arabia a 3-0 win.
Malaysia’s only triumph – a 1-0 win over Timor Leste in Dili – came on Oct 13.
In the next match on Nov 12, Malaysia were hammered 6-0 by Palestine in Amman, Jordan. Then on Nov 17, Malaysia were edged 2-1 by UAE behind closed doors at the Shah Alam Stadium.
Malaysia are fifth in the group with four points and no chance of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia. They play their final group match against leaders Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on March 24.
“I don’t want to end as a failure with the national team. I know the players. Their attitude is good and they always show commitment. I believe in the team’s potential and we will work harder to bring glory to the country,” said Kim Swee.
