Portuguese football manager Nelo Vingada arrived in Malaysia yesterday to begin his role with the Harimau Malaya squad.
The newly-appointed head coach was initially supposed to land in the country on May 25, but chose to arrive two days in advance to commence preparations for the Asian Cup qualifiers.
The announcement was made on the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Facebook page.
The Portuguese manager, who is commonly referred as “The Professor”, will need to get his team ready to face Lebanon for their first match of the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers on June 13. The match will take place at the Larkin Stadium in Johor.
Nelo Vingada’s first game in charge of the national team was initially supposed to be against North Korea on May 8, but strained relations between the two countries resulted in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) postponing the match to be played on October 5.
Nelo Vingada was presented as the new man in power alongside FAM president Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim at the headquarters in Kelana Jaya. The likes of assistant coach Tan Cheng Hoe and general secretary Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin were present as well.
Vingada’s coaching experience spans over 35 years, and he is also no stranger to coaching football teams in Asia.
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