Age is just a number

Hard at work: Newly-appointed head coach Eduardo Vingada (centre) giving instructions to the national team during a centralised training session at Padang Seri Gelam in Johor Baru on Monday. — ABDUL RAHMAN EMBONG/The Star

JOHOR BARU: Newly-appointed head coach Eduardo Vingada has no problems having oldies in the national football team.

The 64-year-old Portuguese said that he was fine with the selection of several overage players for the 2019 Asian Cup qualifying campaign against Lebanon at the Larkin Stadium on June 13.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) released the names of the 26-player squad last week– and it included nine players aged over 30.

“A good footballer is not purely based upon his age. If we take for example in European football nations such as Italy, there are some players who are 34 and 35 ... but they are still playing at the highest level.

“I’m not looking at their age or background ... what’s more important is the player’s quality and what he can bring to the team,” said Vingada after his first session with the Harimau Malaya at Johor Darul Ta’zim’s (JDT) state-of-the-art training complex in Padang Seri Gelam on Monday night.

Vingada, who has less than two weeks to cook up a winning formula, admitted that finding the right balance would be difficult as he needed time to analyse each player and learn more about Malaysian football.

“We started the first training session in a positive step, but what is important is to instil a sense of a unity in the team ... be it the players or management.

“I have a short time to prepare the team, but football is all about results and I’m confident I will be able to strike a balance.”

He also said that he was under no pressure to deliver a good result (against Lebanon) as he has had experience after coaching in Iran and Egypt where expectations were greater.

“What is important for me is that the fans come and support the national team,” he said.

Asked about the four JDT players who had come out of international retirement to play for the national team, Vingada said: “I have no information about the retirement (of the four JDT players) and it happened before my arrival. What I do know is that it’s an honour for a player to wear his national team’s jersey.”

Vingada will be assisted by Tan Cheng Hoe, Joao Arnaldo Correia De Carvalho, goalkeeper coach Azmin Azram Abdul Aziz and fitness coach Francisco Jose Bruto Da Costa.

The first batch of 15 players reported for duty on Monday while the 11 JDT players will check in on Friday – after their AFC Cup Asean Zone semi-final, second-leg clash against Ceres of the Philippines in Bacolod today.

Vingada has retained 13 players from the team who drew 0-0 with the Philippines in a friendly in March. That team was handled by Datuk Ong Kim Swee, who has since been re-designated to take charge of the national Under-22 team.