Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011
The Dazzler. The master winger. The famous bicycle-kick from yesteryears.
Singaporean fans will always remember V.Sundramoorthy as one of the most creative footballers of our time.
The man who we affectionately call ‘Coach Sundram’ has moved on from the player to take on a coaching role, as he passes on the wealth of knowledge he received in the past, onto younger players.
Brought in by the Football Association of Singapore as a Specialist Striker coach, Sundram will now take his place on the national team bench as an official for the first time in the FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Jordan on 11 September 2011, as Assistant Coach, to help motivate and deliver instructions to players in light of head coach, Radojko Avramovic’s four-match suspension.
Armed with a glass of coffee in one hand, coach Sundram smiled and said: “We are talking about the Singapore national team here. And any Singaporean will be proud to be part of the team, be it as an official or as a player. I just want to go out there and help the team in any way that I can.
“In training, as a coach you prepare the boys for the next game and you are there to make sure that they understand and follow the plan. During the game, if the players have gone all out and played their best according to instructions, you cannot ask for more.”
With two games out of the way in Group A and no points on the board, the players as well as coaches know the significance of this Jordan match. Coach Sundram is calm about being on the bench and will stay focused to provide that stability needed to keep the players minds on the game.
He added: “I have been a player before, sometimes in matches, you can lose a slight moment of tactical focus and my job as a coach is to remind and get them to concentrate throughout the 90 minutes. I am not the kind of coach who can sit down and watch the match go by. I tend to stand in the dugout and analyze the action and see if the plan is working. If not, then I will make changes along the way.”
Asked about the working relationship between him and coach Raddy, Sundramoorthy was full of praise for the Serb but also insists that he will be ready to use his experience to ensure Avramovic’s tactics are carried out accurately.
With a serious look on his face, coach Sundram said: “Basically I have been working with Raddy for a couple of years now, in different ways. He is a very well prepared and knowledgable coach who makes sure of every single detail. He prepares the players in detail before every game and that will be the same for the upcoming matches. As for me, my role is to ensure that the players follow the tactical instructions given.”
“To have qualified for the third round for a second time in a row is a good achievement. This has and will provide the boys with even more matches against quality opposition in a competitive environment to gain exposure and experience at this level.”
The Lions will need to show up and deliver a masterclass performance against a strong Jordan side. Can Sundramoorthy be the lucky charm for them as he takes his seat in the national team dugout for the first time?
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