KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 — Former Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general Mohd Saifuddin Abu Bakar said Kim Pan Gon is still the right person to serve as Harimau Malaya’s head coach.
Saifuddin, who was involved in appointing Kim in January 2022, said the South Korean had proven his ability to transform the national team to qualify on merit for the Asian Cup after 42 years.
With his touch, Malaysia’s position in the world ranking rose sharply from 154th to the best position of 130th, and the 54-year-old also proved his professionalism and impressive work quality.
“He (Kim) has brought Malaysia to a level that we did not expect we could achieve in the near future. We have to understand that Rome was not built in a day, but for me, he has done something miraculous.
“This is because he is a very particular person and very passionate, and he works 100 per cent; he also revises regularly to lift Malaysia to a higher level successfully,” he told Bernama today.
Despite a series of unsatisfactory results recorded by Harimau Malaya earlier this year, Saifuddin believes Kim should be given more time.
The former Qatar Stars League Competition Division assistant head and former Oman Professional League technical consultant said that while Kim’s appointment process was made earlier, the factors guiding the national team for the long term should be taken into account.
“It is true that we are thinking about the long term because he is the director of the National Team of the Korea Football Association (KFA), which is responsible for selecting the coaches for the South Korean national team. Thus, we can see his calibre.
“I think Pan Gon is the right person for Harimau Malaya at the moment,” said Saifuddin, who was FAM’s secretary-general post from 2021 to 2023.
Yesterday, the media reported that Kim and his coaching staff had recently sent a letter to FAM, stating they were ready to leave the national team if their services were no longer needed.
However, in a statement on FAM’s official Facebook page, Kim denied the news report and expressed his commitment to the team until his contract expires at the end of 2025.
He said the main goal is to get Malaysia to qualify for the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers and secure an early spot for the 2027 Asian Cup.
Kim is having a tough time with Harimau Malaya following two consecutive 0-2 defeats to Oman in Group D of the second round of the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers recently, dropping to third position with six points.
Three points behind Oman and Kyrgyzstan, who share the top two positions, he faces a must-win mission in its remaining matches against Kyrgyzstan and bottom team Taiwan in June if it is to achieve its main mission.
The two defeats to Oman also saw Harimau Malaya go without a win in five matches since the 2023 Asian Cup campaign in Qatar in January, after losing to Jordan and Bahrain before drawing with South Korea in the group stage.
— Bernama
