AFC Asian Cup 2023: Battalion of backroom staff supporting Kim Pan-gon, Harimau Malaya ahead of Jordan opener

IT IS better to have a great team than a team of greats, so says motivational guru and business leader, Simon Sinek.

As the kick-off against Jordan looms large upon Malaysia national coach Kim Pan-gon in the AFC Asian Cup 2023, a quick scan on his list of backroom staff suggests the South Korean has assembled a great but unsung cast of technical and non-technical personnel working around the clock.

Kim is assisted by seven technical staff and 13 non-technical personnel headed by team manager, Datuk Wira Kamarul Ariffin Mohd Shahar, a businessman with political connections.

Among the non-technical support staff is veteran physiotherapist, S. Sivanasvaran. His professional relationship with the Malaysian team officially began with the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Jeddah in 1997, when chief coach Wan Jamak Hassan guided the likes of Azman Adnan and Zainal Abidin Hassan in the famous black-and-yellow stripes against Saudi Arabia, Chinese Taipei and Bangladesh.

Sivanasvaran, 59 in August, lasted almost three decades in the job, serving under Wan Jamak, Hatem Souissi, Abdul Rahman Ibrahim, Allan Harris, Bertalan Bicskei, Norizan Bakar, B. Satiananthan, Datuk K. Rajagobal, Datuk Dollah Salleh, Datuk Ong Kim Swee, Nelo Vingada, Tan Cheng Hoe and Kim.

The father of two from Ipoh was the physio with the pitch bag on the touchline the last time Malaysia featured in the AFC Asian Cup finals 17 years ago, by virtue of being one of the four host nations.

Two years later, he became a member of the backroom boys when Malaysia emerged victorious in the Laos SEA Games, winning the gold medal in style before the game-changing AFF Cup victory with the senior team helmed by Rajagobal in 2010, created a phenomenon in the local landscape.

Having declined to renew his contract early last year, Sivanasvaran has been recalled to help the team. As a member of the original supporting cast gathered by head coach Kim, he is happy to be back with Harimau Malaya.

Together in spirit and in heart: former physical trainer

Since his arrival in early 2022, Kim has retained his technical staff, except for physical trainer Dr Gokhan Kandemir, who returned to his homeland Turkiye after less than a year for professional reasons. Now back in Turkiye with Super Lig team Goztepe SK, Dr Kandemir wished his old boss and the team the best of luck.

“Although I am no more with the team, I keep in touch with Kim and the rest of the coaches. They are my friends. I keep tabs on the Malaysian team. We are together in spirit and in heart,” said Kandemir.

Kandemir, like the rest of Kim’s trusted lieutenants, holds the South Korean in high esteem. “I like Kim. To me he is not only hard-working coach but also very meticulous in his planning," he said.

"Being a very organised person, Kim is a good organiser. He has a game model that he sticks to. The rest of us understood his philosophy. It was a privilege to be working with Kim and the rest of the team. It was a memorable moment for me personally when Malaysia qualified for the Asian Cup finals. How could I forget, because some of us were hospitalised for fatigue shortly after the qualifiers. We were physically drained after a punishing preparation.”

His former colleagues are undergoing a similar exercise in putting the players into shape in Doha. It is customary for the coaches to sleep well into the wee hours as they dwell on post-match analyses and assessing every move made by the players.

Besides Spaniard Pau Marti Vicente and E. Elavarasan as the assistant head coaches, the technical team comprise Kim’s fellow Koreans - assistant field coach, Park Bo-bae, performance analyst Lim Jae-hun and his assistant Lee Je-yoon, fitness trainer Park Ji-hyeon and goalkeeper coach Cho Jun-ho.

Biggest support cast assembled by FAM

Directly under Datuk Kamarul, who was personally handpicked by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president, Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin to manage the team, is team administrator, Steven Paul, widely tipped for a bright future in football governance.

Media officer Wan Fakhrul Anwar Wan Bakar and photographer-cum-videographer Mohd Nasirruddin Yazid provide content and social media updates, while security officer ASP Hasni Hussin, a police officer, keeps the team discipline in check.

Team doctor is Dr Mohd Zaidi Saleh while Sivanasvaran is accompanied by Mohammad Harris Zhafran Haraman as his fellow physiotherapist and masseurs Zahari Mazlan and Ahmad Ramzi Ahmad Zaini. Making sure Harimau Malaya are never out of sorts and attired with the national gear is kit manager Herman Pelani Syahril, while equipment manager, Suhardi Abang Usop, is an expert on everything related to what the players wear on their feet. The team’s calorie intake is taken care by nutritionist Ku Ahmad Azmeel Ku Muhsen.

In short, FAM has named the biggest ever supporting cast in the contingent, with an eye of upsetting the form book. The only missing personnel is perhaps an executive performance chef, someone who could cater to the players’ culinary tastebuds with just the right amount of calories.

Regardless of the outcome in Doha, Kim’s team behind the team will continue to work hard behind the scenes without pomp and pageantry.

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