Kim Swee rises from the ashes after turbulent episode
THE adage “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going” aptly describes coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee’s roller-coaster ride in the national football set-up.
The former international suffered the ignominy of being demoted from coaching the senior team to handling the Under-23 side in March.
He then hit another speed bump when only six players – out of the 26 called up turned up for the national Under-23 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games squad preparing for the Asian Under-23 qualifiers in Bangkok in July.
That’s when 45-year-old from Melaka proved that he thrives in adversity, defying the odds to guide the team to qualify for the 2018 Asian Under-23 Championship Finals in China.
Now, he is just one step away from helping Malaysia deliver the “mother of all golds” at the Kuala Lumpur Games football final.
Malaysia will take on Thailand in the final at the Shah Alam Stadium tomorrow.
And Kim Swee has promised his men will be a much-improved side compared to the one who lost 3-0 to Thailand in the Asian meet qualifiers in Bangkok in July.
“This time we’re playing at home. So, we shouldn’t fear them. And this time we’ll be fully prepared,” pledged Kim Swee.
“They may be happy with the 3-0 result (in Bangkok in July), but the final on Tuesday will be totally different.”
Kim Swee feels that his team made it to the final because “we showed continuous improvement with every match”.
He was especially pleased with the way his team managed to keep a clean sheet in the 1-0 semi-final win over Indonesia on Saturday.
This is in contrast to them conceding a goal in each of their four group matches.
“The boys showed vast improvement (against Indonesia) compared to how they played in their opening game against Brunei. I changed the line-up for all our matches, yet everybody continued to stand up and deliver every time,” said Kim Swee.
“It’s good that we didn’t concede against Indonesia. This will give us more confidence heading into the final. But we must stay grounded.
“Thailand are a good team. We have to be focused against them.”
Let’s hope his men heed his warning.