Malaysia National Team Officially Appoints Kim Pan Gon As New Coach

Malaysia's new coach, Tan Cheng Hoe (Twitter.com/@FAM_Malaysia)

JAKARTA - The Malaysian Football Federation (FAM) has found a replacement for Tan Cheng Hoe in the national team coaching chair. FAM recently officially appointed Kim Pan Gon as the new tactician of the Malayan Tigers.

The inauguration of the South Korean coach as the new coach of the Malaysian national team was carried out by FAM on Friday, January 21 at noon local time. Before it was official, the name Kim Pan Gon had indeed been linked as a strong candidate along with other names such as Kim Hak Bum and Bojan Hodak.

Quoted from Stadium Astro, Friday, January 21, FAM tied Kim Pan Gon to a two-year work contract or to be precise until 2024. With his new status, Kim Pan Gon will definitely leave his old job as technical director of the Korean Football Association (KFA) .

Regarding his background, Kim Pan Gon is a coach who has experience dealing with clubs at the international level, namely when he held a position in the Hong Kong national team.

Not only that, this 52-year-old coach also coached the Hong Kong U-23 national team in 2009 and 2012 to 2013. Pan Gon also had a chance to be a coach for the senior Hong Kong national team from 2009 to 2010 and 2012 to 2017.

While at club level, Pan Gon started his career as a coach of the Hong Kong Buler Rangers team in 2003. Pan Gon who also had a career as a player in Hong Kong later became assistant coach of the Busan I'Park team in 2005.

Pan Gon's career then returned to Hong Kong when he coached the South China club from 2008 to 2010. Pan Gon also briefly became an assistant to Gyeongnam FC club in South Korea in 2011.

After being officially appointed as the coach of the Malaysian national team, Pan Gon is expected to arrive in the neighboring country with his assistants in February.