KUALA LUMPUR – Belgian League KV Kortrijk player Luqman Hakim Shamsudin believes that the training approach practised by national football head coach Kim Pan-Gon can increase the performance level of national players.
The 20-year-old striker made these remarks after participating in several high-intensity training sessions under Pan-Gon, which he felt has brought a change and taught him several “extraordinary things”.
Although he did not go into details about what he learnt, Luqman Hakim said it was a positive sign and it was reflected in his teammates’ reactions towards the training sessions run by the South Korean coach.
"InsyaAllah we (the national team) will progress. With the training style and high intensity, I feel we can go far,” he said recently.
Luqman Hakim said he also learnt a lot under former national coach Tan Cheng Hoe.
According to him, every coach has their strengths and the national team must make the most of all the opportunities to learn as much as they can.
"Different coaches have different styles and as players, we only learn to improve our knowledge, we learn from new coaches, as well as from former coaches to add to what we know,” he said.
Meanwhile, Luqman Hakim is determined to put on a good performance with the national squad during the Football Association of Singapore’s (FAS) Tri-Nations Friendly Series 2022 in Singapore that will begin next week to make up for his weak form in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup last December.
The national squad is scheduled to depart to Singapore next Tuesday to compete in the tournament against the Philippines (March 23) and hosts Singapore (March 26) in Tier 1 International Friendly matches.
The Harimau Malaya squad will end their time in Singapore by playing local Singaporean club Albirex Niigata FC on March 28. The friendly matches are part of the squad’s preparations for the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers in June this year. – Bernama, March 21, 2022
