‘The fire is still burning’ as V. Sundramoorthy dreams of helming the Lions again

Former Singapore international V. Sundram Moorthy said he misses the excitement of coaching. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO

‘The fire is still burning’ as V. Sundramoorthy dreams of helming the Lions again

SINGAPORE – After a hiatus of over four years, former Singapore coach V. Sundramoorthy is itching to return to the dugout of a regional national side again.

The iconic Singaporean footballer last helmed the Laos national team from 2018 to 2020, before taking up the technical director post at the Lao Football Federation, but it is the excitement of coaching that he misses.

The 59-year-old told The Straits Times: “After my role as technical director (ends) next year, I would love to come back to take a (national) team. It could be Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, I’d give it a shot again.

“The fire is still burning. I miss it. I miss the press conferences, the journalists, the fans, I miss the day-to-day action... even the pressure. It’s part of the game, but you have to come back and feel it again.

“That’s something that when you grow older, you reflect on how the journey was, and I feel that you must always take it as a learning curve. It’s a beautiful journey.”

Sundram was back in Singapore for the BYD Football Fiesta, where he and fellow former Singapore international Fandi Ahmad and former Manchester United star Ryan Giggs coached teams in a friendly futsal tournament at ARFC Woodleigh on Feb 22.

Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs (centre) and former Singapore national footballers Fandi Ahmad (left) and V. Sundramoorthy at the BYD Football Fiesta on Feb 22. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO

Nicknamed “The Dazzler”, Sundram made his name as an attacker with silky skills and deadly finishing for both club and country after bursting onto the scene with Singapore in 1983.

His subsequent coaching career included stints at Lions XII, with whom he won the Malaysia Super League in 2013, and the Singapore national side from 2016 to 2018.

While his term as the Lions’ last permanent local coach ended prematurely following a string of poor results, Sundram has called for more backing for current coach, Japanese Tsutomu Ogura.

He said: “They have qualified for the semi-finals (of the Asean Championship), I think it’s a good achievement, after they exited the group stage in the last edition.

“I feel that you need to give the coach ample support and time and see how we develop from there.”

With Japan-born Kyoga Nakamura recently naturalised as a citizen and Cardiff City’s Perry Ng applying for citizenship via the foreign talent scheme, Sundram sees them as “good inclusions”.

He added: “You have to do it when everyone is doing it. If you got good talent and they can be drafted in under the talent scheme and given the passport, why not?

“You can strengthen your team, especially when you’re playing international tournaments, so I feel that this is the way to go forward.”

He also credits the exposure as technical director of Laos, where he oversees the development of both young players and coaches, for changing his coaching outlook.

He said: “It’s a learning experience, I look at things differently now. Before, it’s about every match, you need to know how to win. Now I look at the future of football.

“And looking at the environment in Laos, the only way is up. They were actually at quite a low level.

“We decided to develop the grassroots, youth development, coach education, and then we have a talent development scheme and other football programmes, where we really engage everyone towards the development of Lao football.”

Sundram estimated that there were fewer than 200 qualified coaches before he joined, and now the number has more than doubled.

“Over the last four to five years, I have managed to get in the right people, and especially in terms of coach education,” added Sundram, whose team included compatriot Herman Zailani, the head of coach learning.

“We try to be as professional as possible , and we are getting there step by step . For the youth competitions, we have the Under-18 and the U-16 competitions every year for a couple of months... when we activate all the provinces to come to (the capital) Vientiane.”

Sundram also expressed his wish to see more Singaporean coaches venture abroad and follow in the footsteps of the likes of Satyasagara (coach at Cambodia Premier League side Kirivong Sok Sen Chey), who goes by one name, and Chris Yip-Au (Seychelles’ head of women’s football and women’s national coach).

He said: “If you are going to Cambodia or Laos, you get experience taking the youth (or) national teams. Maybe you will take a pay cut but you will get the experience.

“If you don’t come out of your comfort zone and take the challenge... maybe you might (feel that you) have missed the boat when you get older.”

Melvyn Teoh is a sports journalist at The Straits Times.

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