KL will gladly let coach leave to helm Harimau Malaya

Impressive feat: Bojan Hodak steered underdogs Kuala Lumpur to beat star-studded JDT in the Malaysia Cup final.

PETALING JAYA: For Bojan Hodak to be linked with the national team comes as no surprise.

The Kuala Lumpur coach is one of the most respected figures in the local game, thanks to his successes with various clubs.

At Kelantan, he won the Super League in 2012 and FA Cup twice in 2012 and 2013.

Then he joined Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and the Southern Tigers won the Super League in 2014 and Charity Shield the following year.

The Croatian also has some experience handling a national team.

He handled the Malaysian Under-19 from 2017 to 2019 and they won the AFF Under-19 Youth Championship in 2018.

And last year, he steered underdogs Kuala Lumpur to beat star-studded JDT in the Malaysia Cup final.

Football fans also agree that the burly no-nonsense Hodak is the right man to lead the Harimau Malaya thanks to his knowledge of Malaysian football and its players.

Even Kuala Lumpur chief executive officer Stanley Bernard revealed that they will not stand in Hodak’s way if there is an interest from the Football Association of Malaysia.

“It is not a conversation that happened only today. When I played under him, we did have these chats. As a coach, he is ambitious and has target,” said Stanley.

“His love for this country is massive. His wife is Malaysian, so this is home for him.

“If there is an opportunity to coach Malaysia, he would surely consider it.

“For now, his focus is on Kuala Lumpur. But if the call comes, we will be supportive of it. I’m a Malaysian first before anything.”

If Hodak does move, Stanley said they could promote his assistant and compatriot Nenad Bacina.