PETALING JAYA: Terengganu are not expected to look elsewhere to replace outgoing head coach Nafuzi Zain as they have singled out the team technical director Tomislav Steinbruckner as the successor for the new season.
Nafuzi, who has refused to accept a new contract, will see his tenure ending tomorrow and Steinbruckner, who has been with the state team since 2015, is to take over the position.
State youth, sports and non-governmental organisations development committee chairman Wan Sukairi Wan Abdullah has confirmed the news and added an official announcement will be made soon.
“He (Steinbruckner) is the next choice after Nafuzi to lead Terengganu next season. So, I believe it is almost certain,” Wan Sukairi had said in Kuala Terengganu over the weekend.
“We have confidence in his experience. He was with T-Team FC in 2015 and guided the team well.
“We hope he can continue the legacy left by coach Nafuzi and lead TFC to a more prominent position in the league and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competition next year.”
Under Nafuzi, Terengganu finished runners-up in the Super League behind Johor Darul Ta’zim and were semi-finalists in the Malaysia Cup competition which concluded on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Steinbruckner had guided T-Team FC to a creditable third spot in the 2015 Premier League and had acted as TFC’s technical director this season.
The Croatian, who has the experience of playing for NK Osijek and also coached the same club and few other Croatian clubs from 2008 and 2014 before joining T-Team in 2015.
Nafuzi began his coaching career with the T-Team’s President’s Cup coach in 2016, later served as the assistant coach the Terengganu first team (2017-2019) before becoming the head coach in 2020.
