Late coach Venglos was a fatherly figure, say former charges

KUALA LUMPUR: Former national and Kuala Lumpur coach Dr Jozef Venglos, who died yesterday, was a fatherly figure who instilled modern training methods in the local league, said his former charges.

The Slovak Football Association confirmed the 84-year-old died on Tuesday evening in its website without identifying the cause.

The Slovakian was first appointed as the City Boys coach in 1985 by the late Tan Sri Elyas Omar, who was then Kuala Lumpur mayor, before being tasked to take charge of the Harimau Malaya (national squad) from 1986 to 1987.

During his tenure with the national team, he steered the Harimau Malaya to the 1986 Pestabola Merdeka (Merdeka Tournament) title, but they were eliminated in the group stage of the Asian Games in Seoul the same year.

Former Kuala Lumpur skipper and national player Tang Siew Seng, who had played over a decade with the City Boys, said Venglos was instrumental in the team’s transformation into a modern football outfit and left a legacy though only in the job for around two years.

“It was a very good experience to train under Venglos. His methods were very simple in the beginning, did not confuse us and his good nature commanded a lot of respect from the players,” said Tang, who represented the country at the 1982 Asian Games.

“With his slow and simple approach, the team got close to him quickly, he was like a father figure as we got to know him better. That made us adapt to his methods easily and gain knowledge to win the first division title in 1986.

“When he went on to take the national team job after the 1986 season, he left a legacy and some understanding on how football should be played, which helped us to achieve more victories after that (including three consecutive Malaysia Cup victories from 1987),” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, former defender K. Gunalan, who played under Venglos with both Harimau Malaya and Kuala Lumpur during his younger days, said the Slovakian believed in youth and laid a strong foundation for the City Boys to achieve multiple success in the late 80’s.

“He was the man who turned KL football into the modern type, he brought success and youth development. I am one of it (examples). He believed in youth, brought a lot of changes in the training system, was like a father to everyone.

“But when it came to training and work, he was strict and emphasised on punctuality. I think his passing is a great loss to football fraternities around the world as he had worked in many parts of the world,” said the Petaling Jaya City FC under-21 coach.

Meanwhile, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) also expressed condolences on the passing of Venglos through social media.

After his tenure in the national team, Venglos headed back home to steer his national team (Czechoslovakia) into the quarterfinals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, followed by his historical move to the Aston Villa FC.

He was the first manager born outside Britain or Ireland to take charge of a top division club in England.

In his vast coaching career, Venglos had also coached the national teams of Australia, Czechoslovakia, Slovakia and Oman, as well as clubs like FC Prague Sydney, New South Wales, Slovan Bratislava, Fenerbahce and Celtic.