Rajagobal Retained As Harimau Malaya Coach Until Year-end

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 - Despite Harimau Malaya's dismal performance in their Japanese outing, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has decided to retain the services of coach Datuk K. Rajagobal until his contract expires at the end of the year. FAM deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said FAM could not make a hasty decision and time was needed to find a credible replacement to relive Malaysia's glory years.

"If the results were anything to go by, luck was not on Rajagobal's side, but it's not easy to get a replacement immediately," he told reporters after chairing the FAM's Technical and Development Committee meeting here Thursday. Harimau Malaya suffered three defeats in the friendlies in their Japanese tour this week. They lost two matches to first division clubs, namely Shimizu S 0-2 and Shonan Bellmare 0-5, and another to second division's Tokyo Verday 0-5. Expressing the committee's disappointment over Harimau Malaya's performance, Tengku Abdullah said the committee would ask Rajagobal to make amends while the FAM look for his replacement. "We hope they are aware of the importance of rebuilding the team in terms of mental strength to bounce back and not continued to be saddled with defeats," he said. He said in order improve Malaysia's world ranking, Harimau Malaya would be pitted against Class A national teams from other Asian countries in friendlies in September. Malaysia are scheduled to meet Granada in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 6 and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Shanzhen, China on Sept 10. "We hope both matches will help the national team in their preparations before meeting Bahrain in an Asia Cup 2015 qualifying match here in October," he said. (Bernama)