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(Left: Fritz Schmid, Datu Sudarsono, Dollah Salleh and Dato’ Hamidin)
At a recent Press Conference on 9 July 2014, FAM’s General Secretary, Dato’ Hamidin Hj Mohd Amin formally introduced the newly appointed Head Coach for the National Team, Dollah Salleh, Team Manager, Datu Sudarsono Osman (Vice President of FAM) and Fritz Schmid, the Technical Director at FAM.
During the session, Datu Sudarsono stated that he was greatful to have been given the opportunity to be the National Team Manager. As an individual who is passionate about football, and one who thrived on challenge, he was excited about the oppritunity to play an active roll and to contribute his efforts to get the best out of the team.
He mentioned that the immidiate KPI that was set for the team by the President of FAM, Tengku Abdullah was for the team to be in the Finals of the upcoming AFF Suzuki Cup. This KPI was set based on the consideration that Head Coach Dollah didn’t have much time to work with the team.
Prior to the AFF Suzuki Cup, various friendly matches have been set up the Harimau Malaya team. This includes a match with Tajikistan on 8 August 2014 (away game), Jordan on 11 October 2014 (home game), and New Zealand on 18 November 2014 (home game).
According to Head Coach Dollah, the limited time that he has with the team would be a challenge. He only has a few days to train the team for the match with Tajikistan after the Eid Fitri celebrations. After that, he would have the team only in September, because prior to that the players would be focused on the Malaysia Cup.
He said that he intended to retain 60-70% of the current team, while making space for fresh talents. He would be using the Malaysian Cup tournament as an opportunity to scout for players for the National Team.
Additional note:
*Due to conflicts of schedules with the dates for the Malaysia Cup 2014, the friendly match with North Korea has been postponed to 2015.