At a special press conference at Wisma FAM today, the 55-year-old coach from South Korea said he had decided to retire early, even though his contract with the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) was until December 2025.
"I apologise for any disappointment this may have caused to all parties. Since I arrived in February 2022, for the past two and a half years, Malaysians have truly gifted me with a very extraordinary and wonderful journey in my life.
"In June 2022, we together share the joy of Malaysia qualifying for the Asian Cup on merit after a period of 43 years and since then, we have risen to 130th in the FIFA ranking.
"In the last action of the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar, in January, we managed to draw 3-3 with the 22nd ranked team in the world, South Korea, thus showing the pride that Malaysians should have in their football," he said.
Meanwhile, FAM deputy president Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi said assistant head coach Pau Marti Vicente of Spain is acting head coach of the Harimau Malaya squad, assisted by another national assistant head coach, E. Elavarasan.
Mohd Yusoff said other coaching staff namely assistant coach Park Bobae, goalkeeper coach Cho Junho, fitness coach Jihyeon Park and performance analysis coach Lim Jaehun will continue to help Pau Marti, 41, and Elavarasan based on their respective contracts.
"Pau Marti's first task as the acting head coach of Harimau Malaya is to lead the team to the 2024 Pestabola Merdeka competition which will take place at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in September with the participation of three other teams namely Tajikistan, Lebanon and the Philippines.
"The FAM National Team Management Committee will continue to evaluate and monitor the team's performance from time to time under the management of Pau Marti, especially ahead of the 2024 ASEAN Cup (AFF Cup) in November and December and the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers starting next March," he said.
-- BERNAMA
