Cklamovski's impact on Harimau Malaya still too early to call

The Sun

3 days ago

FORMER national football team head coach Datuk K. Rajagopal feels that it is still too early to evaluate current coach Peter Cklamovski's impact on Harimau Malaya.
Rajagopal, however, believes that the team showed an improved performance in their 1-1 draw in the friendly against Cape Verde at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium in Cheras on Thursday (May 29).
Although he was quick to point out that the Harimau Malaya squad still need to work hard to continue to improve, he also expressed confidence in Cklamovski, saying 'he (Cklamovski) knows what he is doing'.
'Every coach has his plans. We can see from his second game in charge (against Cape Verde), there is an improvement, although they still have room for improvement. Cklamovski knows which team they will be facing and the players he will field against Vietnam (in the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers on June 10)
'I can't give an evaluation now. Usually, it will take about 10 matches before one can assess if there has been an improvement or not,' he told reporters during the media conference to launch his book titled 'Inilah Saya K. Rajagobal' (This is me, K. Rajagobal) at the Kuala Lumpur International Book Festival here today.
In the May 29 friendly, world number 131 Malaysia needed a 79th-minute Paulo Josue equaliser to hold world number 72 Cape Verde to a 1-1 draw.
The national team will take on Cape Verde a second time, in a closed-door friendly, at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Tuesday (June 3).
The friendlies against Cape Verde are part of Malaysia's preparations for the crucial games against Vietnam in their second Group F match of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers at the National Stadium on June 10.
Meanwhile, Rajagopal, who guided Malaysia to the gold medal in the 2009 Laos SEA Games and the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup triumph, described his book as an effort to inspire the younger generation and serve as a medium for him to share his coaching experiences with future generations.
'The inspiration for writing this book came from my eldest son. Many legends never wrote or documented their life journeys for reference... not just my own story, but those of other legends as well. This is my opportunity to share that struggle with the younger generation.
'I have stories about how I faced challenges and hardships that I want to share not only with sports fans but with all Malaysians. I felt that I had to write this to contribute something meaningful to the sports arena in the country,' said Rajagopal, who also used to coach Brunei.