Malaysian and Cambodian coaches miserable after being eliminated early in AFF Cup 2016

(Baonghean.vn) - If the head coach of the Cambodian national team showed frustration and condemned his players for being undisciplined, then after admitting defeat at the AFF Cup 2016, Malaysia coach Ong Kim Swee is also facing the risk of being fired.

At the AFF Cup 2016, Malaysia had a terrible performance after failing to pass the group stage with 3rd place. Winning against Cambodia, but losing to Vietnam and Myanmar, this was only the 3rd time in the history of the tournament that the Malaysian team was eliminated from the group stage.

After Malaysia coach Ong Kim Swee admitted his mistakes and failure at the AFF Cup 2016, the Malaysian Football Federation is urgently looking for a replacement.

When the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016 took place for more than 3 months, 4 key players of the Malaysian national team, Aidil Zafuan, Safiq Rahim, Kunanlan Subramaniam and Amirul Zainal, announced their retirement from international football. After that, coach Ong Kim Swee and his team continued to face the risk of withdrawing from the AFF Cup 2016 midway when the Malaysian government wanted to withdraw the national team from the tournament to protest the Rohingya Muslim conflict in Myanmar.

Not only that, even before the start of the 2016 AFF Cup, the Crown Prince of Johor of Malaysia criticized the working style of coach Ong Kim Swee. The Crown Prince said that the national team would not learn anything and could not progress if this coach was in charge.

And now, after stopping at the group stage, ESPN magazine has just published information that coach Ong Kim Swee will likely be fired and start working again at a domestic club. In addition, this prestigious magazine also gave out the bright candidates for the position of head coach of the Malaysian national team, which are 3 strategists: Gerard Houllier (French), Steve McClaren (British) and Ange Postecoglou of Australia. These are all coaches with reputation and achievements, especially coach Ange Postecoglou who won the 2015 Asian Cup with the Australian team.

Meanwhile, Korean coach Lee Tae-hoon of Cambodia is also on the verge of quitting after the group stage ends. Although the Cambodian team lost in 3 matches against Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam, the playing style and progress of the Cambodian players are highly appreciated. Coach Lee Tae-hoon, who breathed life into the transformation of the Cambodian team, is different. On his personal Facebook, the 55-year-old coach said that his students did not listen to his arrangements and were negligent in maintaining their physical fitness.

Meanwhile, the coach of the Cambodian national team blamed his players for losing all 10 games in the group stage. The Korean strategist’s contract with the Cambodian Football Federation will expire in December and he will likely withdraw.

“Most of the players do not pay attention to maintaining their fitness and health. The Cambodian national team could not get good results because our players could not play the full 90 minutes. I think all the players knew this but they did not show any effort. If they were aware of maintaining their fitness, of course we would have got good results,” explained coach Lee Tae-hoon.

In the defeat against Myanmar and especially the loss to Vietnam when they had more players, the Korean coach expressed his frustration when the Cambodian players played in an undisciplined manner and did not respect their opponents: "I am very disappointed. Despite the efforts of the coaching staff, the Cambodian team could not take advantage of the opportunity."

Finally, coach Lee Tae-hoon emphasized: “The Cambodian players have improved their professional level after the AFF Cup 2016, the important thing is that they know who they are and have gained some experience from this tournament. The Cambodian team has improved significantly in quality, but the players still do not have the determination and will to win.”

Trung Kien