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The Football
Association of Thailand (FAT) has done it again. The dismissal of
Brazilian coach Carlos Roberto Carvalho for the second time was shocking
and reflects sadly on the country's soccer administration.
It once again confirms the ignorance of some who are short-sighted and
expect results overnight.
When the services of English coach Peter Withe were terminated, I asked in
this column how the national soccer team, which was being groomed in the
European style of the game, could suddenly change over to the Brazilian
style of play.
Carvalho, who was at that time anxious to take over from Withe, said that
he was accepting the post with open arms and was ready to deliver. His
enthusiasm and anxiety for the job seemed to have blinded him to reality.
It was only later that he realised that it is almost impossible to produce
a team here which is capable of making an impression.
The FAT has a notorious reputation of firing and hiring coaches and it
found an excuse to get rid of the Brazilian, claiming that he hadn't
produced results.
Carvalho wasn't given enough time to educate Thai players in the samba
style of soccer, which enabled Thailand reach the semi-finals of the Asian
Games in Beijing in 1990 under him, having beaten a number of strong teams
including hosts China in the quarter-finals.
That was when Carvalho was Thai coach in 1990s. He was later shown the
door when Thailand lost the SEA Games final against Indonesia on
penalties.
Coaches need time to train teams, to pick and choose players for the right
positions and to convert them into stars. They cannot produce champion
squads overnight.
But that's what the country's soccer administrators want. They dismissed
Withe for that reason, even though he had proved his worth, producing
results all the way.
The FAT also showed the exit door to German coach Burkhardt Ziese who had
transformed a national team that was beaten at home by Indonesia into a
champion side in the SEA Games, thrashing the same Indonesian squad en
route to winning the gold.
Many coaches have endured this unhappy situation over the years.
As the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. That's what our soccer
administrators should bear in mind. It is easy to sit on your haunches and
to make adverse comments on coaches and sack them.
The late Pravitr Chaiyasarm, who coached the Thai side which won the gold
medal in the 1981 SEA Games in Manila, picked most of his players from the
then champion club team Rajpracha which he was training.
Hence he knew his players well and there was no need to build team spirit
and train them for a long period of time. All what he needed was a good
striker and he picked Piyapong Pue-on for that spot.
The FAT must give the coaches they hire time and encouragement to create
good teams. It must give up its habit of hiring and firing coaches. This
has happened to many coaches, especially those hired from abroad. They are
kicked around like a soccer ball by administrators, which is not good for
the promotion and development of the sport and hurts the good name of
Thailand.
That's why soccer isn't doing well, other than winning regional
competitions.
Soccer administrators must treat coaches like human beings. It is easy for
them to claim that coaches have left amicably, as was said after the
dismissal of Carvalho.
Money and power isn't everything. People have to be humane and act with
greater understanding. It is a great pity that Thailand, which has so much
sporting talent, is unable to produce good soccer players, though some of
the country's players are playing elsewhere.
I was surprised to see Filipino Randy Rangubhat picked to fight defending
world flyweight boxing champion, Pongsaklek Wongjongkam, in an over-weight
warm-up on Friday in Phuket.
Anyone with a knowledge of boxing would never have selected such a tough
opponent for Pongsaklek who has been recovering from a bout of chicken pox
and was weak health-wise, especially for a showpiece bout.
It was a bad mistake by those handling the flyweight champion.
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