In him, we trust
Cheng Hoe has full support from former coach Rajagopal
PETALING JAYA: It’s all about passion, hard work and honesty.
Former national coach Datuk K. Rajagopal believes these are the traits in national coach Tan Cheng Hoe that has seen him lead the Malaysian team to the AFF Suzuki Cup semi-finals.
Malaysia take on Thailand tomorrow at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Cheng Hoe was assistant to Rajagopal when Malaysia won their only AFF Suzuki Cup in 2010.
Rajagopal, who coached the national team from 2009 to 2013, is happy to see the progress of the Malaysian team under Cheng Hoe.
“Cheng Hoe will always have my full support. We’ve worked together and he is very committed,” said Rajagopal.
“I’ve known him for a while now, he is honest and works hard for the team.
“In this tournament, he has built the right team.”
In 2010, Malaysia got off to a bad start in the AFF Suzuki Cup after they were beaten by Indonesia 5-1 in the group stages but shrugged off the mauling and went on to win the tournament by beating Indonesia 4-2 via aggregate in a two-legged final in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.
Two players from the 2010 squad – Norshahrul Idlan Talaha and Khairul Fahmi Che Mat – have continued to play starring roles for the team in the ongoing AFF Suzuki Cup.
Khairul started the first three games of the group stages while Norshahrul is Malaysia’s top scorer in the tournament with four goals.
Twins Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak and Zaquan Adha Abdul Razak also used to train under Rajagopal when they were part of the Harimau Muda set-up.
“The senior players under Cheng Hoe have been responsible and they’ve been following his instructions throughout the tournament. These players are backing Cheng Hoe and that’s a good thing to see,” said Rajagopal.
“There’s good momentum within the Malaysian team.
“They were impressive in their last match against Myanmar.
“I told Cheng Hoe to be strong and wished him the best.
“He has been doing a good job and I hope the team will upstage Thailand.”
The stadium will be packed to the rafters as the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) announced tickets for the match have been sold out at the counters in the National Stadium and selected Al-Ikhsan Sports and Football Republic stores.
Ticket sales started at 10am and long queues were seen as early as 7am at the stadium and stores around the Klang Valley yesterday.
A total of 40,000 tickets sold online on Monday and Tuesday were snapped up quickly.