Vicente Puzzled By FAM's New Head Coach Announcement During ASEAN Cup Campaign

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s outgoing head coach Pau Marti Vicente has questioned the "strange" decision by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) ahead of tomorrow’s crucial "do or die" match against Singapore in the final Group A match of the 2024 ASEAN Cup, here.

Vicente admitted that he was puzzled by FAM’s decision to announce the appointment of new coach Peter Cklamovski while the national team was still in the midst of the biennial tournament.

The 41-year-old Spaniard said he did not understand the benefits of the decision but had to accept it as it was beyond his control.

“I think so far from the start of it, it was a bit weird to me, I don’t know any benefit for anyone to introduce a new coach when we are still here, but we cannot change this, we cannot control this. So the only thing we can control is what we do in training, on the field, and this is the only thing we must focus on.

“Focus to get the best from our players, make sure they are available and make a good plan to beat Singapore. If we spend too much time worrying about the rest, it will be very difficult to compete,” he told a pre-match press conference today.

On Monday, FAM announced the appointment of Australian Cklamovski as the new head coach of the national team, with the former FC Tokyo manager set to officially begin his duties on Jan 1, 2025.

Earlier this month, Vicente had announced that the 2024 ASEAN Cup would be his final assignment as the national team’s head coach.

Malaysia, the 2010 champions, must win against Singapore tomorrow night to qualify for the semi-finals while hoping that Thailand defeat Cambodia in the final group match tomorrow.

The national team is currently in fourth place, sharing four points with Cambodia in third, while Singapore is in second place with six points. Defending champions Thailand, who have already secured their advancement, lead the group with nine points.

For the record, tomorrow’s match is a repeat of the final group match from the 2022 edition, where Malaysia, needing a victory, triumphed 4-1 over Singapore here.

-- BERNAMA