SLOW AND STEADY APPROACH
Vingada to work on taking the game to another level first
EDUARDO Vingada could turn out to be Malaysia’s own ‘Special One’ as Jose Mourinho was once his student while the Manchester United manager’s father, Jose Felix was his teacher.
“I have known Mourinho since he was a young kid... his father was my coach in Portugal. My brand of football is according to the capacity and levels of players. I do not have a closed mind about playing a certain system,” said newly-appointed national coach Vingada who was unveiled to the press in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
“I like fearless and quick players, and they must be mentally strong. It is important to have a winning mentality in football. I want to bring happiness and pride to Malaysia. I want to take football here to the next level.
“Good results come with hard work. I do not promise results. Players here must have the selfbelief that anything is possible in football,”
The 64-year-old has worked throughout Asia — except for Southeast Asia — and admitted that he does not know much about Malaysian football.
“I, however, have looked at Malaysia’s previous results. The vision is to make the best of the present situation with a perspective of a promising future. What I have achieved in the past is history.
“With the cooperation of Tan Cheng Hoe, who has been offering me insights on the players here, and my two other Portuguese assistants, I will do my best for football here. I will treat all my assistants as equals.”
Vingada’s first task is the Asian Cup Qualifiers, where his team will entertain Lebanon in a Group B match at Larkin Stadium on June 13. North Korea and Hong Kong are the other teams in the group.
“Looking at the rankings, North Korea and Lebanon are above us and they have decent teams. Hong Kong have also improved a lot. Lets go game-bygame and see how things go. We will fight in every match and play to win.
“We do not have much time to prepare for the match against Lebanon. Time is always short for coaches. I believe in September, when we have had more time to work together, we can show something better than now.
“Miracles do happen in football. For example, I arrived in Saudi Arabia a month before the Asian Cup in 1996 but despite the limited time, we went on to win it as I built the team around their strikers.
The national trainees will report to Vingada on Sunday and start training a day later in Johor Baru ahead of the match against Lebanon. Players from Darul Ta’zim will only report after the AFC Cup zonal semi-finals return leg match against Ceres Negros on May 31.
Vingada also brushed aside allegations that he had links with China agent Eric Mao, whose clubs were once investigated for match-fixing.
“I would like to clarify that I do not have any relation with Eric. I was a former player of Atletico Clube de Portugal and the owner requested whether I could help them (to secure investment) as I was coaching in China.
“I agreed and helped the club. At that time, I already had a contract with Iran (in 2013). Only this happened and nothing more. Everything I have done in my life as a coach has been good. I am a good man... no doubt about it,” said the former Portugal youth coach.
A report in Asia Times on May 10 claimed that Vingada helped Mao to buy a controlling stake in Atletico in 2013. The club were then investigated by UEFA for match-fixing.