G Lavendran
The Malaysian football coach also said that just as Rome was not built in a day, to produce a good team capable of winning trophies takes years of hardwork.
“Being a Malaysian, that should not have happened. I am definitely disappointed, but not all Malaysians are like that. Only those few who were probably instigated to say such things.”
“This will not bother me. My life is football. It is for the country. I know I am doing the right thing so I need not worry about all this racist thing,” Rajagobal, 57, told FMT in an interview yesterday.
Rajagobal is not new to Malaysian soccer. He played for numerous local clubs and state teams in the Malaysian semi-professional league from 1978 until 1989. He is also a former national striker, with 20 international caps between 1980 and 1983.
As a manager, he started his coaching career in 1990 with PKNS FC. He also had stints with the Selangor and Kelantan state teams. He was given the job to guide the national under-20 team from 2004 until 2006, the Malaysian under-19 in 2007 to 2009 and was appointed national team coach in July 2009.
Rajagobal is best known for guiding Malaysia’s under-23 side to its first gold medal in 20 years at the 2009 SEA Games in Laos. The victory earned him the name “King Raja”. He also led the Malaysia national football team to win the AFF Suzuki Cup in 2010.
Prior to his appointment as national team coach the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) had tried out many coaches including some foreign names. But none had brought such fame and glory to the national football team in recent times.
This year, the Malaysian team was however knocked out of the Suzuki Cup after they lost to Thailand in the two-leg semifinals.
Soon after their first game loss to Singapore by a 0-3 margin, several Malaysian supporters called for the sacking of Rajagobal via Twitter, some using foul language and derogatory names, including racists comments.
The team subsequently bounced back beating Laos and Indonesia in the group stages to land a semifinal spot.
Need to build from young
On the Malaysian team, Rajagobal said a good team capable of winning trophies is not made in a year or two.
“It took us 20-years to win the Sea Games again in 2009 and 14 years to win the AFF Suzuki Cup in 2010, Rome was not built in a day. We are now feared and well known, we have stepped up our game.”
“Obviously, we cannot compare our national squad to the European giants. It does not make sense. Even if you wanted to compare with England, they last won the World Cup in 1966. It has been about 46-years since they last won the World Cup…what do you have to say to that?”
“Our players have to improve, they are not even at Asian standards. We have to accept the reality that it doesn’t take a year or two to bring out the best in our players, or to win championships,” he said.
Rajagobal believes that building a good and consistent squad, starts from the core, which is young players.
He said the national youth squads, under-23 and downwards, have to perform and step up to a whole new level, bringing forth well groomed players to the national squad and give Malaysia a more consistent track record and help climb up in the ranks of footballing nations.
On his future, he said quitting the national squad was not an option. Speculation was abound the Rajagobal will throw in the towel after the Suzuki Cup defeat.
“It is my dream to build a strong team and try to qualify for the Asian Games by merit. We are going to do well. As a professional, I will fulfil my contract till 2013. I will only be answerable to my bosses in FAM, so I will continue to coach the national squad.”
“I am glad that we have managed to create support from our fans. They are now behind us every time we play. I think FAM is doing a good job so far under the leadership of Sultan Ahmad Shah. He has a lot of love and passion for the game and the Malaysian team.”
“The Malaysian football squad manager, Subahan Kamal is also giving us the support we need and would like to bring home more championship trophies as a token of appreciation to the country and its supporters,” he added.
Give credit where due
The Malaysian Tigers will participate in the Asian Games qualifiers in February next year.
On the Suzuki Cup defeat, he said the team played well and that the players must be given due credit.
“Our best game was against Thailand, but we were unlucky. We had five key players injured. Mainly Wan Zack Haikal, Mohd Safie Mohd Sali, Mohd Khyril Muhymeen, Ahmad Shakir Mohd Ali and Kunalan Subramaniam, on top of the red card awarded to our defender Mohd Fadhli Mohd Shas. It wasn’t easy but they played their best.”
“We obviously played better at home than in Thailand during the second leg. We had a tough time during training due to the bad conditions on the training pitch provided, but I’m not going to make that an excuse”, he added.
Saying that winning a championship is much easier than defending it, he said consistency of players was another reason for the flop.
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