Former Bayern Munich Youth Coach Teong Kim- team’s failure lay in the unsystematic youth football development in the country.

 Unsystematic youth football development led to AFF U-23 debacle - Teong Kim

Lim Teong Kim

22/02/2022 

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22  -- Former Mokhtar Dahari Academy director Lim Teong Kim has defended the national junior squad’s poor showing in the 2022 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Under 23 (U-23) Championship in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Teong Kim, who is also the former National Football Development Programme (NFDP) technical director claimed that the reason behind the team’s failure lay in the unsystematic youth football development in the country.

"The development of a player must go through a systematic process and this is non-existent in Malaysia. The current situation does not allow junior players to progress, so we can’t blame them.

"I have said many times that if the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the Malaysian Football (MFL) did not carry out their responsibilities to hold youth leagues, don’t hope that Malaysian football will grow,” he posted on Instagram today.

According to Teong Kim, FAM and MFL are entities that should prepare and complete all platforms for the development of football in the country.

He also said that the changes that need to be made include creating more leagues at the youth level and limiting each Super League and Premier League team to only three import players.

Teong Kim added that permission for feeder teams to field import players in Premier League competition should be withdrawn.

Malaysia crashed out of the 2022 AFF U-23 Championship in the group stage after two consecutive defeats to Laos in two-team Group B, after fellow Group B teams Myanmar and Indonesia withdrew due to COVID-19 infections among their players.

Malaysia lost to Laos 1-2 in their opening match on Feb 18 and 0-2 in the last match yesterday. Laos emerged as Group B champions and qualified for the semi-finals.

-- BERNAMA

Comment :

This is a never ending problem that is highlighted every 5 years. Malaysia used to win the youth tournaments in the region, now we cant even beat Laos. In 2013 Lim Teong Kim was put in charge of the youth program. Then his contract was not renewed, despite the fact millions of Ringgit of the tax payers money is pumped into FAM every year. He is good enough to coach Bayern Munich's youth team but not good enough to handle FAM's Youth Program????

21.8.2013

Ex-Bayern coach Lim Teong Kim appointed as Project Director of NFDP

The experienced Teong Kim has signed a 5 year-deal that will see him oversee the country's youth development program
Former Bayern Munich coach Lim Teong Kim has been appointed as the new Project Director of the National Football Development Programme.

The ex-Malaysian international has been touted as a candidate for quite some time now, with Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin revealing that he held talks with Teong Kim recently.

However, it has now been confirmed that the former Hertha Berlin player will be in charge of unearthing youth talent within this country, after signing a five year deal.

This move comes as an encouraging one, considering that grassroot development has been a hotly debated topic in this country. Ong Kim Swee has done a pretty decent job with the Harimau Muda and Lim's arrival will be expected to to boost the country's youth development.

Lim is the first Malaysian player to play for a foreign club, when he featured for Hertha Berlin in 1987. He then returned to Malaysia, helping KL win the Malaysia Cup for three years in a row, between 1987 and 1989.

The Malacca-born player joined the Bayern Munich coaching set-up in 2000, and has since helped develop names like David Alaba, Thomas Muller and even Bastian Schweinsteiger.

https://www.goal.com/en-my/news/3896/malaysia/2013/08/21/4203102/ex-bayern-coach-lim-teong-kim-appointed-as-project-director