PETALING JAYA, June 10 — National head coach Kim Pan Gon once again opened up about the immense pressure he has been facing in guiding Malaysia since taking charge in January 2022.
As Harimau Malaya prepares for a crucial home match against Taiwan in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers tomorrow night at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, the 55-year-old South Korean said the pressure he is currently experiencing is bigger than expected.
The former Korean Football Association (KFA) team director said the pressure was intensifying every day and every time he achieved something with the team.
“The pressure is really more than what I expected because, to me, I believe we, the coaching staff, have given a lot of good things here. We changed the national team philosophy and established the characteristics of a national team, and the home game-winning rate is much higher than before.
“We qualified on merit for the Asian Cup for the first time in more than 40 years, and we challenged for World Cup qualification until the last moment. This kind of environment we provided to the country here, but I think, from time to time, more pressure and more pressure. I did not expect this one.
“On the first day I was here, very good support, everybody was supportive, and everything I requested was provided. But, time to time, when I achieve and achieve, I do not know, it is negative and negative, this is what I am feeling,” he told a Malaysia-Taiwan pre-match press conference at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya today.
Kim added that: “In any situation, we will fight for it. We will never give up or look down, so we never fear. I never fear. We have a passion here; I have a passion here. If we cannot achieve, then we cannot achieve, but we will keep moving forward.
He was responding to queries from South Korean journalists regarding the challenges he faced as a foreign coach here, including having to deal with the high expectations placed on Harimau Malaya.
This is the second time within a six-month period that Kim has made statements regarding the pressure he faced with the national team, the first being during the pre-match press conference ahead of the group stage match against South Korea in the 2023 Asian Cup in Doha, Qatar, in January.
Harimau Malaya aims to clinch a big win against Taiwan in their last Group D match of the 2026 World Cup/ 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers tomorrow to revive their chances of reaching the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers and qualifying early for the 2027 Asian Cup.
Malaysia is now third in Group D with seven points — three points behind second-placed Kyrgyzstan, who also have a goal-difference advantage going into the final match. Oman tops the group with 12 points and qualified for the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.
In the final group matches, Malaysia, with a minus two (-2) goal difference, will entertain Taiwan, while Kyrgyzstan, with a +6 goal difference, will travel to Muscat to face Oman.
If the team fails to advance to the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, Malaysia will have to compete in the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers for a chance to make its second consecutive appearance in the tournament.
— Bernama
