Zainal: Give Vingada time to improve the standard of our football

KUALA LUMPUR: Former international and Penang coach Zainal Abidin Hassan ( pic) believes national coach Eduardo Vingada has the ability to lift the standard of Malaysian football if given a certain period of time instead of expecting instant results.

Zainal said since the arrival of the Portugese coach in May this year, the team had already shown progress.

However, in football it is all about winning matches when assessing the performance of a coach.

“I believe coaches need time to overcome weaknesses before looking at results. We cannot rectify the weaknesses within a short period but I believe there will be a notable improvement in the performance of the players and team,” he said.

Vingada’s charges are in Hong Kong for the 2019 Asian Cup Qualifiers Group B match against Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Stadium today. Zainal added that the result or outcome of the match against Hong Kong today would have an impact on Vingada’s credibility and ability to improve Malaysian football.

“We must understand he comes from a different world of football and culture compared to us. He will have to understand our culture and get to know the profile of all the players. We did not employ him to get instant results,” he said.

Zainal hoped the players will put their best foot forward and play as a team to achieve success in the qualifiers.

Malaysia are currently at the bottom of Group B with one point after two matches following a 1-1 draw against Hong Kong at the Hang Jebat Stadium on Sept 5 and a 1-2 loss to Lebanon on June 13.

We must understand he comes from a different world of football and culture compared to us. We did not employ him to get instant results. Zainal Abidin Hassan