Vingada steps down
Vingada leaves after pitiful stint with Harimau Malaya
Portuguese coaach Eduardo Vingadda (pic) has stepped down as the national team coach following a string of poor results. The 64-year-old coach has announced his decision to quit after just over five months in charge of the Harimau Malaya that saw him fail to win a single match out of seven he was in charge of since his appointment in June.
PETALING JAYA: Portuguese coach Eduardo Vingada has stepped down as the national team coach following a string of poor results.
The 64-year-old coach has announced his decision to quit after just over five months in charge of the Harimau Malaya that saw him fail to win a single match out of seven he was in charge of since his appointment in June.
“After discussions with the president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, I take responsibility for the performance of the national team,” said Vingada in press statement yesterday.
“With this sense of responsibility, I hereby relinquish my position as national head coach with immediate effect and Tunku President himself has also accepted my decision.
“I would also like to inform that the two assistants that I brought along, Joao Arnaldo Correia De Carvalho and Francisco Jose Bruto Da Costa, have also resigned from their respective positions as national assistant coach and national fitness coach respectively.
“Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to hope and pray for Malaysian football to shine again and that I was proud to be part of Malaysian football in this relatively short period of time.”
Vingada was appointed to the job in June, after Tunku Ismail became FAM president, to replace Datuk Ong Kim Swee, who was demoted to the national youth coach.
The much-travelled Portuguese coach leaves with Malaysia ranked at No. 174 in the latest FIFA ranking, which happens to be the lowest in the country’s history.
FAM secretary general Datuk Hamidin
I’d like to take this opportunity to hope and pray for Malaysian football to shine again. Eduardo Vingada
Mohd Amin said that Vingada’s replacement would be named next year.
“The FAM would like to thank him for his contributions and services and we wish Vingada all the best in the future,” said Hamidin.
“The two local coaches in the national setup – Tan Cheng Hoe and Azmin Azram Abdul Aziz – will remain in their positions as assistant coach and goalkeeper coach of the national squad.
“The plans for and development of the national squad for 2018 will be announced by FAM or Tunku President in the near future.”
The Harimau Malaya only managed a draw against Hong Kong at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Melaka on Sept 5 while losing six other matches under Vingada, including back-toback 4-1 defeats to North Korea in Buriram, Thailand, last month that led to severe criticisms of his selection policy.
The string of poor results saw Malaysia eliminated from the 2019 Asian Cup qualifying campaign – rooted at the bottom of Group B with just one point despite having one more match to wrap up – against Lebanon – in March.