Kroos and Muller’s coach comes up short for Malaysia

WITH his Bayern Munich pedigree, Lim Teong Kim was touted as the man to rebuild Malaysian youth football and handed a tax-free salary of more than US$ 40,000 per month. And, yet the ex- national midfielder failed to deliver results at a major tournament, despite having home-ground advantage.

After two defeats in three matches, host nation Malaysia was eliminated from the AFC Under-16 Championship last week – and 55- year- old was sacked in yet another setback for the country’s sports’ fortunes.

And when it was revealed that Lim was on a monthly, tax-exempt salary of RM175,000 – more than US$ 500,000 per year – a nation’s football fraternity and its fans felt a sense of outrage.

Melaka-born Lim had returned to Malaysia in 2013 with a huge reputation after the unique experience of having coached Bayern Munich’s U19 side for 12 years, working with superstars like Thomas Muller and Tony Kroos. He also had a season as a player with Hertha BSC in 1987, becoming the first Malaysian footballer to sign with a German club.

“We are stupid, arrogant and lazy coaches... not fit to comment on the coach from Germany,” Malaysian Football Coaches Association president, B. Satianathan told The New Straits Times in a veiled dig at Lim, who’d been placed on a pedestal because of his European exposure.

“I don’t think anywhere else in this world is a coach paid so much for coaching an U16 team. As to whether the salary is too high or appropriate, I rather not comment on it. It is not Teong Kim’s fault that he gets such a high salary.”

It had all begun so well for Malaysia in the ongoing AFC U16 Championship when they thumped Tajikistan 6-2 in their opening Group A game in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 20.

Str iker Luqman Hakim Shamsudin scored four goals, and Lim’s stated target of making the semi-finals – thus earning qualification for next year’s U17 World Cup in Peru – was on track.

But subsequent defeats to Thailand ( 2- 4) and Japan ( 0-2) saw the host nation finish bottom of the group.

The turning point came in the second game when star man Luqman was given a red card for a ‘kung-fu kick’ foul on the Thai goalkeeper in the 51st minute. It was 2-2 at the time, and Lim would later rage against referee Omar Mohamed Ahmed Hassan.

“The referee killed us after we levelled the game 2- 2. It was clearly not a red card,” he said. “( Luqman) was looking at the ball and did not see the opponent, it is a normal move in football.”

Malaysia’s early exit had the nation’s former sports’ minister Khairy Jamaluddin defending his decision to pay Lim such a massive wage.

For now, Lim will continue in his role as head of the National Football Development Programme ( NFDP) . The U16 side was the first batch to come through the ambitious production line to create elite players.

“The salary was based on an offer to bring back Teong Kim to Malaysia to head the NFDP,” Khairy said.

For the first two years, his massive wage was paid by a sponsor, but it is now covered by Malaysia’s cash-strapped sports’ bodies.

Lim’s failure is a good lesson in not to be swayed by the hype of great success achieved overseas, while providing incentive-based salaries for coaches. Even though Lim was home- grown, he had the swagger of a star European manager, and could speak fluent German after his many years with Bayern.

Malaysia had a similarly unpleasant experience with Nelo Vingada, who took charge of the nation’s senior team for seven months last year. It was based on his great success as assistant boss to ex- Manchester United assistant boss Carlos Queiroz with the Portuguese U20 side, winning the 1989 and 1991 world titles.

But after six defeats and no victories in seven matches with Malaysia, his two-year contract was cut short with the country at an all- time low in the FIFA rankings.

Later this month, Malaysia’s U19 side will try to qualify for the 2019 U20 World Cup in Pol and at the AFC U19 Championship in Indonesia from Oct 18 to Nov 4.

However, coach Bojan Hodak is wise enough not to follow Lim of setting bold targets of making the semi-finals to secure a place among footbal l’s elite next year.

Malaysia are in Group D, along with Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and China.

“I will not set a target. We need to be realistic, see ourselves as the underdogs, and try to create upsets in our matches,” Hodak said.

Hodak’s monthly salary is only a fraction of Lim’s. And yet the former Croatian, who guided Malaysia to the AFF U19 title in July, has already provided much better value than the homecoming hero from Bavaria.

Jason Dasey hosts Weekend Mornings on Singapore’s Money FM 89.3 and is CEO of Cockatoo Media. Twitter: @ JasonDasey