Thai stint a transit stop in Cheng Hoe’s footballing voyage

EIGHT passes, seven players, 20 seconds – and GOAL!

The move that led to Syahmi Safari’s wonder goal in the AFF Cup semi-finals against Thailand almost six years ago became the highlight of the launch of the much-awaited Malaysian DNA in 2019.

To Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) technical director then, Peter de Roo, it was the perfect illustration of Tan Cheng Hoe’s game plan that reflected the Malaysian way of playing.

In simple terms, the goal captured the way FAM wanted the national team and the rest of the country to play.

As Farizal Marlias threw the ball to Shahrul Saad from the Malaysian penalty box, there was little to suggest the ball would end up in the Thai net within 20 seconds.

But it did.

All along, Cheng Hoe, dressed in typical white shirt and black pants, stood rooted at the touchline just within the technical area as he witnessed the seven-man move.

Shahrul’s pass to leftback Nazirul Naim Che Hashim led to a wall pass with defensive midfielder Akram Mahinan before Nazirul relayed the ball to Syamer Kutty Abba who fooled his marker with a feint before passing the ball back to Nazirul.

The leftback quickly delivered a pass to forward Norshahrul Idlan Talaha who saw Syahmi unmarked on the right wing.

Syahmi intelligently attacked the half space in front of him as the Thai defence was dragged wide by Mohamadou Sumareh’s run before unleashing a right-footed thunderbolt as he reached the edge of the penalty box.

The footage that captured the Malaysian DNA was played over and over to the audience on that fateful day of July 9, 2019 as De Roo explained that the Malaysian way could be best seen in the way Cheng Hoe’s squad played as a unit.

It was a testament to Cheng Hoe’s coaching credentials that remained unscathed despite his dramatic departure from Selangor on Thursday.

The former Kedah player was made the new national football coach in December 2017, a day after Eduardo “Nelo” Vingada quit the post without posting a single win from seven matches.

Vingada’s five-month stint was the shortest reign of any national coach of Malaysia in recent decades.

Under Vingada, Malaysia registered one draw and six defeats, including back-to-back 4-1 defeats to North Korea that led to severe criticism of his selection policy and the run of poor results that saw Malaysia eliminated from contention in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifying campaign, sitting bottom of Group B with just one point.

Cheng Hoe, who was also assistant to Datuk K. Rajagobal from 2009 to 2013, took over the role with the national team mired at an all-time low of 174th in the FIFA rankings.

Gradually Cheng Hoe stamped his mark on a team low on confidence by rebuilding the side with his attacking philosophy based on keeping possession and keeping the ball on the deck.

Under Cheng Hoe, Harimau Malaya finished runners-up in the AFF Cup in 2018 and carved out a series of positive results in 2019 before Covid19 hit the country.

Following his resignation as the Harimau Malaya chief coach after a dismal year in 2021, Cheng Hoe took up the challenge of handling the Red Giants and he didn’t disappoint.

He led the team to runners-up spots in the Malaysia Cup (2022) and Super League (2023) and secured their qualification to the AFC Champions League 2, previously known as the AFC Cup, for the upcoming 2024-2025 season.

Naturally, Selangor fans were upset as they questioned the wisdom behind Cheng Hoe’s decision. It didn’t make sense as Selangor are set on returning to the Asian stage while the Police Tero team are staring at relegation.

With 11 games remaining and with two months left before the league ends, Police Tero, with only 19 points from 19 matches, are battling relegation in the 16-team league.

It makes little sense for Cheng Hoe to abandon the Selangor project as they were bidding to redeem their pride after failing to reach the AFC Cup knockout stage in 2016.

Despite denying the speculation, Cheng Hoe might just eventually move to the southern tip of the peninsular in the foreseeable future.

The Thai stint may well be a transit stop or a small dot in Cheng Hoe’s footballing journey.