KOMPAS.com – The Malaysian Football Federation (FAM) appointed Kim Pan Gon as the new head coach to replace Tan Cheng Hoe who resigned after failing to lead the Malaysian national team to qualify for the 2020 AFF Cup group stage.
The confirmation was conveyed by FAM President Datuk Haji Hamidin Haji Mohd Amin through an official statement on Friday (21/1/2022) at noon.
“The Malaysian Football Association has today announced Kim Pan Gon from South Korea as the new head coach of the Malaysian national team to fill Tan Cheng Hoe’s position,” Datuk Haji Hamidin Haji Mohd Amin said in a statement.
“FAM feels Pan Gon is the best candidate to manage the Malaya Tiger squad based on his extensive experience as a coach at club and national team level,” he said.
Also read: Approaching South Korean Coaches, Malaysia Wants to Plagiarize Indonesia?
The selection of Kim Pan Gon was done after going through a thorough evaluation of several candidates from various countries including Japan, Europe, Latin America, and Malaysia.
Before being appointed as Malaysia’s tactician, Kim Pan Gon had been a coach for the past four years as he served as director of the national team at the Korean Football Association (KFA) since 2018.
Kim Pan Gon’s coaching career began in 2005 as assistant coach of Busan IPark FC. He spent three seasons there before becoming head coach at South China FC in 2008-2010.
Media Release: FAM Announces Appointment Of Kim Pan Gon As The New Head Coach Of The Malayan Tigers Squad
Read the full statement from FAM President, Datuk Haji Hamidin Haji Mohd Amin at https://t.co/q7j1IeLQMU#FAM #Malayan tiger pic.twitter.com/hnv6zT0CRu
– FA Malaysia (@FAM_Malaysia) January 21, 2022
The 53-year-old coach has also served as head coach of the Hong Kong national team in two periods, namely in 2009-2010 and 2012-2017.
As the coach of Hong Kong, Kim Pan Gon managed to bring the team to history by winning a gold medal at the 2009 East Asian Games.
Also read: Schedule for the Indonesian National Team in the 2022 AFF U23 Cup: When will you fight Malaysia?
He also led Hong Kong to qualify for the 2010 East Asian Football Championship to become one of the four teams that advanced to the finals.
Kim Pan Gon is scheduled to arrive in Malaysia in early February 2022 with his four assistants, namely assistant coach, goalkeeping coach, physical coach, and analyst.
He and his coaching staff will then start monitoring the players after the 2022 Malaysian League competition starts for the first call-up to training camp in March 2022.
The training camp aims to prepare the Malaysian national team ahead of the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers in June.
Get updates news of choice and breaking news every day from Kompas.com. Let’s join the Telegram group “Kompas.com News Update”, how to click the link https://t.me/kompascomupdate, then join. You must first install the Telegram application on your cellphone.
