Tan Cheng Hoe
In the week that Malaysia contest the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup, their homegrown coach Tan Cheng Hoe celebrates a satisfying first year in charge of the national team.
Tan is a former midfielder with Kedah who looks more like a librarian or accountant than a coach, with his eye glasses and well-groomed appearance. Reluctant to brag about his achievements, he was the last person you’d expect to transform a country’s football fortunes.
Malaysia came back from two goals after 25 minutes to force a 2-2 draw against Vietnam in the first leg of the final in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. The nations will face off again in Hanoi on Saturday night, with both aiming to win the Southeast Asian championship for a second time.
The fact that Harimau Malaya are within touching distance of the regional title is remarkable, and a credit to Tan’s hard work.
When he took over in December 2017, the Malaysians were in disarray after the disastrous spell of Portugal’s Nelo Vingada, hand picked by the Crown Prince of Johor (TMJ), the then-FAM boss. TMJ had dumped incumbent Ong Kim Swee, slamming the Melaka-born manager for his lack of “quality” and demanding a “foreign coach with records of success”.
Vingada had an impressive curriculum vitae, having worked side-by-side with iconic manager Carlos Queiroz, who was Sir Alex Ferguson’s right-hand man at Manchester United for the best part of a decade. He’d also guided Saudi Arabia to glory in the Asian Cup.
But in his mid-60s, Vingada had never previously worked in Southeast Asia, and his greatest achievements had come more than two decades earlier. Despite the full support of the Prince’s beloved Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), Vingada failed to win a game. Having signed a two-year contract, his record after seven months in charge was six defeats and a solitary draw — and that only came after Hong Kong missed a late penalty to win an Asian Cup qualifier.
Former assistant Tan inherited a team low on confidence, and with a world ranking that had slumped from 155th to 174th.
Twelve months later, Tan has turned Malaysia into a well-drilled and combative unit, which has integrated members of the nation’s acclaimed age-group sides. They’ve lost only four of 14 matches in 2018, with their semi-final elimination of defending AFF champions Thailand — on away goals after a 2-2 draw in Bangkok — being the highlight.
This isn’t a side high on quality, but they do have a fighting spirit, as indicated by their tenacious displays in the Suzuki Cup. They’ve followed in the footsteps of the under-23 team, who won the silver medal at the 2017 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games (beaten by Thailand in the final) before making the quarterfinals of the 2019 AFC U23 Championship in China.
Having failed to qualify for next month’s AFC Asian Cup in United Arab Emirates, Malaysia will hope to continue their improvement when qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup begins in the latter part of next year.
And Tan has earned the right to lead his nation towards the second World Cup on Asian soil, based on his 2018 results, and his stellar club career in charge of Kedah. The true gauge of progress will be their results against the continent’s powerhouse teams like Japan, South Korea and Australia, not to mention West Asian nations like United Arab Emirates who beat them 10-0 in the 2018 campaign.
Enjoying Malaysia’s renaissance is the Prince, who was quick to claim his share of the credit, as they made the Suzuki Cup final for a fourth time.
“The success of Harimau Malaysia advancing to the finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup… [was achieved]after the reshuffling done by His Royal Highness,” read a post on JDT’s Facebook page, lifted from an article in Berita Harian. “His Royal Highness had reshuffled the coaching line-up for three national teams by enlisting Bojan Hodak to guide the Under-19 squad, Ong Kim Swee for Under 23s and appointed Tan Cheng Hoe as assistant coach for the senior squad before handing him the head coach role at the end of last year.”
TMJ is no longer calling for a “foreign coach”, given the results of the respective teams in 2018. While Hodak was born in Croatia, he is effectively a local, having been based in Southeast Asia for the past two decades and with a Malaysian wife.
Even if Malaysia don’t prevail in the second leg of the Suzuki Cup against the more-fancied Vietnamese, Tan has more than exceeded the expectations of his demanding boss, while striking a blow for Southeast Asian coaches.
After Malaysia failed to register a single victory in 2017, Tan’s tenacious team have won eight times in 2018, and more importantly, put the pride back in the yellow and black shirt.