Nelo Vingada quits Harimau Malaya after 6 losses

Portuguese coach's miserable track record on the pitch compounded by Malaysia's fall in FIFA ranking from 155 in June to 174 last month.

PETALING JAYA: Less than seven months after taking on the job of Harimau Malaya head coach, Nelo Vingada has decided to call it quits, accepting responsibility for the failings of the national football team, losing six out of its past seven games.

An announcement on his resignation was first made known in a posting on the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Facebook page today.

“After discussions with FAM president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, I take responsibility for the performance of the national team.

“With this sense of responsibility, I hereby announce to relinquish my position as national head coach with immediate effect and the Tunku president himself has also accepted my decision,” Vingada said in the statement.

Vingada, who is a Portuguese national, arrived in Malaysia in late May to take over the national team.

FAM had said at the time that his “no-nonsense style of coaching and direct and dominant assertiveness towards players were the main factors which favoured him as the best choice to be the Malaysian national team head coach”.

Harimau Malaya failed to register a single win in seven matches under Vingada, with the best result being a 1-1 draw with Hong Kong in the home leg of the Asian Cup qualifying (ACQ) match on Sept 5.

Malaysia lost its other six matches – three ACQ and three friendlies – in the past six months.

This comprised losses to Lebanon (ACQ, losing 2-1 at home), Syria (friendly, 2-1, home), Myanmar (friendly, 1-0 away), Hong Kong (ACQ, 2-0 away) and North Korea (ACQ, 4-1 home, 4-1 away).

Malaysia also fell in the FIFA ranking for international teams from 155 in June to 174 last month, during his tenure.

Vingada’s track record

Vingada, whose fullname is Eduardo Manuel Martinho Braganza de Vingada, started his coaching career as assistant to Carlos Queiroz for the Portugal Under-20 side where the duo led Portugal to back-to-back FIFA Under-20 World Cup successes in 1989 and 1991.

After succeeding Queiroz as head coach, Vingada consistently led the Portuguese Under-20 side to the semi-finals of major events like the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 1995 and Olympics in 1996.

With a managerial career spanning 35 years and counting, Vingada is a popular figure in the Asian region as well.

He coached the Saudi Arabia senior side (1996-1997), the Egyptian Olympic team (2004-2005), Jordan national team (2007-2009) and the Iranian Olympic squad (2014).

Meanwhile, Vingada said that his two assistants – Joao Arnaldo Correia De Carvalho and Francisco Jose Bruto Da Costa – will also be leaving the FAM set-up as national assistant coach and national fitness coach, respectively.

“Finally, I like to take this opportunity to hope and pray for Malaysian football to shine again and that I was proud to be part of Malaysian football in this relatively short period of time.” -FMT