KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — As expected, national team head coach Tan Cheng Hoe has been retained to lead the Harimau Malaya in their mission to gain an automatic berth to the 2023 Asian Cup.

Tan, whose current contract will expire on December 31, confirmed the two-year extension after being informed by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

The 52-year-old coach will now continue to be in charge until the end of 2022, including for the remaining three matches of the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asia Cup second round qualifiers beginning next March.

It is understood that talks regarding the contract extension began several months ago and that FAM made the decision to retain Tan based on the positive changes he had made to the national squad, including breathing new life into the team’s playing style.

Advertisement

“The FAM decided to extend my contract for two more years. I view this as a challenge to bring the national team to a higher level,” he told Bernama today.

The former Kedah coach, who is currently in Penang, said he had received the contract extension letter and would meet the FAM leadership as soon as the conditional movement control order (CMCO) is lifted.

Meanwhile, FAM secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam said although 2020 had put a temporary halt to the positive performance of the national team, the FAM still had unfinished business and that Cheng Hoe was paramount towards ensuring the team’s continued progress.

Advertisement

“We are happy that TCH (Cheng Hoe) has agreed on the extension and we now can focus on the next set of matches that are crucial for us all,” he told Bernama.

The 2019 season saw world No 154 Malaysia, under Cheng Hoe’s guidance, record nine wins from 13 matches, including an A-status friendly, since emerging as runners-up in the 2018 Asian Football Federation (AFF) Cup.

Four out of the nine wins were against higher ranked teams — Afghanistan (world No 147) in the Airmarine Cup Championship (March); Nepal (No 161) and Tajikistan (No 116) in Tier 1 international friendly matches (June and November); and Thailand (No 109) in the Group G 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup qualifiers on November 14.

In the qualifiers, Malaysia are in second spot in Group G with nine points from five out of eight matches.

Qualifying for the 2023 Asian Cup is the national team’s mission under FAM’s Roadmap, known as F:30. — Bernama