A product of the French football eco-system unwanted by NSC, NFDP

THE stupendous volley by France talisman Kylian Mbappe which dragged the FIFA World Cup final into extra-time on Sunday was initiated by two players who once came under Saad Ichalalene’s tutelage.

Ichalalene, for the uninitated, spent six years in Malaysia as a football expert at the grassroot level. But the-35-year-old youth coach is bidding farewell to a place he had called home.

The Frenchman of Algerian and Moroccan descent, was the head coach of the Paris St Germain (PSG) Under-14 team which once featured the likes of Adrien Rabiot and Kingsley Coman, the duo who combined for Mbappe to produce the dramatic equaliser in the 81st minute.

During the final in Doha on Sunday, substitute Coman regained possession after dispossessing Lionel Messi before passing to Rabiot who quickly relayed the ball to Mbappe on the left flank. The French star performed a one-two with Marcus Thuram before unleashing a stunning volley past Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Juventus’ Rabiot and Bayern Munich’s Coman were not the only PSG products who spent their pre-formative and formative years under Ichalalene.

On the bench were midfielder Matteo Guendouzi, now with Marseille and West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.Unlucky not to be part of Didier Deschamps’ 25-man squad due to injuries were PSG centreback Presnel Kimpembe and AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, both Ichalalene’s former proteges.

In his last season at PSG before he was lured to pitch his tent in Kuala Lumpur in 2016, Ichalalene had a hand in nurturing budding superstar Arnaud Kalimuendo, now with Rennes, Zyad Larkeche (Fulham), Tanguy Kuassi (Bayern Munich), Isaac Karamoko (Sassuolo) and defender Timothee Pembele, currently in the PSG main squad which boast of Messi, Mbappe, Neymar and Marquinhos.

Having left the glitz and glamour of Paris to scour for uncut diamonds from Perlis to Pahang, Ichalalene became a crucial factor in cultivating the modern playing methods and the required DNA among the players in the National Football Development Programme (NFDP).

When programme director Lim Teong Kim was redesignated as chief coach of the elite few at the Mokhtar Dahari Academy (AMD) in 2016, Ichalalene was roped in as the head of coaching methodology and talent scouting, along with Franck Plaine and Abdifitaah Mohd Hassan to identify and nurture talents at the Akademi Tunas (AT), Pusat Latihan Daerah or District Training Centre and the State Sports Schools level.

His good work behind the scenes was recognised when the then Youth and Sports Minister, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who announced his appointment as the NFDP Technical Director in 2019.

Under Ichalalene’s watch, the foundations were laid for P. Maniam’s victorious Under-16 AFF Cup team in 2019 and the Under-19 AFF Cup squad this year while Osmera Omaro’s team qualified for the Under-17 AFC Asian Cup finals after beating United Arab Emirates, Palestine and Indonesia. In terms of off the pitch recognition, the AMD earned a two-star accreditation from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

But today, Ichalalene has been deemed surplus to requirements. NSC have decided not to extend his contract, and that of coaching methodology chief Abdifitaah.

Dutchman Dennis Bekking has left his technical director post at AMD to join Selangor FC as its technical director.

The NFDP technical and working committees are keen to allow Malaysians to fill the key positions as a cost cutting measure, as the foreign experts’ payroll is believed to be almost 15% of their RM20mil budget.

While NSC feel there has been a transfer of knowledge from the foreign trio to the locals during their six-year stint with the NFDP, my numerous conversations with the local experts suggest they are not ready to fill in the big shoes.

With due respect to our local coaches, they have not reached the desired standards to be producing the goods at youth level.

The issue remains whether or not the products are of regional or continental calibre.

In the final analysis, are we ready to bid au revoir to Ichalelene and Co?