FOURTEEN years after leaving the country for Germany, Lim Teong Kim returns to chart the future of Malaysian football after being appointed as project director of the sport ministry's National Football Development Programme.
Teong Kim, who coached various age-group teams at Bayern Munich for 12 years, accepted a three-year contract with an option for two more and will have overall responsibility to ensure the development programme meets the ministry's goal of ensuring Malaysia qualifies for the Under-20 World Cup in 2019."It's a big challenge and I'm happy to take it on. I've tried to achieve excellence in everything I do and after 12 years at Bayern Munich, I'm ready to impart my knowledge to young coaches and players here," said former national team midfielder Teong Kim at a press conference held with Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin in Putrajaya yesterday.
Teong Kim, 50, was appointed the FA of Malaysia's academy head coach in February 1998 but only lasted 16 months before leaving for Germany amidst claims that his recommendation to sack eight academy coaches did not go down well with several quarters.
Two years ago, Teong Kim said in an interview with Timesport that he would only consider a job here when the government started developing proper infrastructure for football.
It seems that Teong Kim has been persuaded to not only take on the technical director's role left vacant by his brother Kim Chon, who has taken up a position with Fifa, but also overall responsibility for the development programme.
"My brother has said that we have very young and talented players," said Teong Kim. "But these players don't grow on trees. We need to find and work with them with the support of the big hierarchy in this country.
"I'm sure with the will of God, we will achieve it."
Teong Kim, who achieved great fame with the-all conquering Kuala Lumpur team of the late 1980s, added that five years -- the length of his contract should he take up the option -- is not enough time to produce players.
"To develop players, five years is the minimum. To develop (German international) Thomas Muller, (Austrian) David Alaba and (German youth international) Diego Contento at Bayern, it took more than five years.
"That is why I am here to try to work to change things," he said. "You won't succeed if you don't try. Our mindset must be right because these things don't happen today.
"We are going to do things that should have been done 15 years ago," said Teong Kim, who starts work in November.
Conspicuous by their absence were officials from FAM, who are partners with the ministry in the national football development committee.
When asked if FAM had any response to Teong Kim's appointment, Khairy said: "We hope FAM will support us.
"The question of development is already addressed in the agreement we signed with FAM. The government is responsible for grassroots development through the sports ministry and education ministry while FAM is responsible for the national teams, the M-League and so on."
Khairy added that Teong Kim's role will be bigger than Kim Chon's.
"A technical director is only in charge of the technical aspects of the programme but as project director, Teong Kim will be in charge of the entire programme," said Khairy.
"It is not just the system that must be in place but the training of coaches is also important. We must have qualified coaches and Teong Kim can't do it alone.
"He has asked for a coaching staff and I will discuss with the National Sports Council about the budget."
Lim Teong Kim
Read more: Teong Kim to chart future - Soccer - New Straits Times
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