Let’s roar again

Vingada to make players feel proud wearing national colours

KUALA LUMPUR: New national football team coach Eduardo Vingada’s (pic) first target is to make the Harimau Malaya roar with pride again.

With the national team languishing at No. 158 in the world ranking after years of under-achievement, the Portuguese coach was quick to temper expectations by saying he intends to set the platform for Malaysia to get positive results.

The 64-year-old, who was introduced to the media by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim at a leading hotel here yesterday, admitted that “I don’t know much about Malaysian football”.

“It’s my great pleasure and honour to be here. Thank you Tunku Ismail for giving me the great honour to help. Malaysia will be in my heart and my second country. Of course, family will always be number one. Our team will be the most important thing,” said Vingada.

“I believe that with the players’ quality and hard work, we can bring the pride to play for the national team to another level. I’m not the kind of person who promises results because that comes with hard work.”

“I don’t know too much about Malaysian football ... I was following the results, especially the last few one, but we are here with a clear vision for the future. Tan (Cheng Hoe) will be working with me and I will also bring in two Portuguese coaches.”

Vingada, whose first task is the 2019 Asian Cup Group B qualifying match against Lebanon in Johor Baru on June 13, said that he would need at least four months to see progress in the team.

“The main target is the game against Lebanon,” said Vingada, who claims that current Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was one of his students.

“There’s not much time but, with the support of the staff, we can be as strong as we can. Coach Tan, being a Malaysian, knows the players and has done well with his club (Kedah).”

Vingada is a well-travelled coach, having taken charge of Portugal’s Under-20, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Olympic sides of Iran and Egypt. He also coached clubs like Zamalek (Egypt), FC Seoul, Persepolis (Iran) and Dalian Shinde (China).

He also explained that his football philosophy would “depend on the players I have”.

“My football philosophy is based on the level and capacity of my players. Of course, in my mind, I like some kind of characteristic in the play.

“I like fast players and strong mentality ... I want my players to believe that everything is possible,” he said.