14/01/2026

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | JAN 14, 2026

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N EWLY appointed National Football Development Programme (NFDP) technical director Datuk Ong Kim Swee has set a mission to develop grassroots football in the country by focusing on efforts to close the performance gap with Southeast Asian teams before turning attention to competition at the Asian and world levels. Kim Swee said the aspiration could only be achieved if it was addressed systematically through short, medium and long-term target planning. “The short-term target is to ensure that we are on the right track, especially by not allowing the gap with Southeast Asian teams to become too wide. “Within one to three years, we also want to qualify for the AFC U-17 Asian Cup, and subse quently, our main goal is to qualify for the Fifa U-17 World Cup in the future,” he said in a video shared by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) yesterday. The technical aspects of football develop ment at NFDP have now been taken over by FAM, with a total of 198 trainees aged between 13 and 17 having begun the 2026 session with their first training session at the Mokhtar Dahari National Football Academy (AMD) in Gambang, Pahang, yesterday. Meanwhile, Kim Swee stressed the role of coaches as the most critical element in ensuring the development of young players was carried out holistically and in phases, without pressure for immediate results, to safeguard the players’ long-term potential. He said he believed the extensive experi ence of the existing coaching line-up could pro vide significant added value to the direction of

struggle,” he said. On Monday, FAM announced the appoint ment of its vice-president Datuk Dollah Salleh as assistant technical director of the NFDP. The national governing body said the appointment of the Malaysian football legend will also see him assisting Kim Swee, who took office last month. FAM also announced the new NFDP coach ing line-up and technical staff who will oversee the national elite football programme at AMD. Razip Ismail has been appointed as NFDP head of coach education and talent identifica tion, assisted by P. Ganasamurthy, Abdul Ghani Malik and S. Veloo. For the AMD U-13 squad, the team will be led by head coach Hassan Sazali Waras, assisted by Fadzli Saari and Fauzi Kassim, while Firdaus Mohamad has been appointed as goalkeeping coach. Meanwhile, the AMD U-14 squad will be led by Rusdi Suparman as head coach, assisted by Aziz Ismail and Shahril Faizal Sharifuddin, with Rozaimi Rohim serving as goalkeeping coach. For the AMD U-15 squad, P. Maniam has been appointed head coach, assisted by M. Lingeswaran and Radzi Salleh, while Norazlan Razali will take on the role of goalkeeping coach. Former national player Shukor Adan has been entrusted as head coach of the AMD U-16 squad, assisted by Lim Chan Yew and Kuizwan Johari, with Farizal Harun as goalkeeping coach. Meanwhile, Noor Zaidi Rohmat has been appointed head coach of the AMD U-17 squad, assisted by Armi Sharif and Syahrul Azwari Ibrahim as assistant head coaches. – Bernama

New NFDP boss Kim Swee targets development of young players Focus on grassroots football

coaches, it will definitely provide a different impact for me. “Because they have previously been with our youth teams and some have quite strong track records, and I hope they will continue their

the NFDP, particularly in shaping teenage play ers who were better prepared both technically and mentally. “And this process will certainly take some time, and with the presence of experienced

Two pro teams go through in India

Tour Down Under to determine World Cup squad: Sarjit

RESULTS & STANDINGS

FA CUP (3rd round) : Liverpool 4 Barnsley 1. FRENCH CUP (Last 16) : Paris Saint Germain 0 Paris FC 1. LA LIGA: Sevilla 0 Celta Vigo 1 (Alonso 88-pen) . P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 19 16 1 2 53 20 49 Real Madrid 19 14 3 2 41 17 45 Villarreal 18 13 2 3 37 17 41 Atletico 19 11 5 3 34 17 38 Espanyol 19 10 4 5 23 20 34 Real Betis 19 7 8 4 31 25 29 Celta Vigo 19 7 8 4 25 20 29 Bilbao 19 7 3 9 17 25 24 Elche 19 5 8 6 25 24 23 Vallecano 19 5 7 7 16 22 22 Sociedad 19 5 6 8 24 27 21 Getafe 19 6 3 10 15 25 21 Girona 19 5 6 8 18 34 21 Sevilla 19 6 2 11 24 30 20 Osasuna 19 5 4 10 18 22 19 Alaves 19 5 4 10 16 24 19 Mallorca 19 4 6 9 21 28 18 Valencia 19 3 8 8 18 31 17 Levante 18 3 5 10 21 30 14 Real Oviedo 19 2 7 10 9 28 13 SERIE A: Genoa 3 (Colombo 7, Frendrup 75, Ostigard 78) Cagliari 0, Juventus 5 (Bremer 12, David 15, Yildiz 35, Terracciano 48-og, McKennie 64) Cremonese 0. P W D L F A Pts Inter Milan 19 14 1 4 42 17 43 AC Milan 19 11 7 1 30 15 40 Napoli 19 12 3 4 30 17 39 Juventus 20 11 6 3 32 16 39 Roma 20 13 0 7 24 12 39 Como 19 9 7 3 27 13 34 Atalanta 20 8 7 5 25 19 31 Lazio 20 7 7 6 21 16 28 Bologna 19 7 6 6 26 20 27 Udinese 20 7 5 8 22 32 26 Sassuolo 20 6 5 9 23 27 23 Torino 20 6 5 9 21 32 23 Cremonese 20 5 7 8 20 28 22 Parma 19 5 6 8 14 22 21 Genoa 20 4 7 9 22 29 19 Cagliari 20 4 7 9 21 30 19 Lecce 19 4 5 10 13 27 17 Fiorentina 20 2 8 10 21 31 14 Verona 19 2 7 10 15 31 13 Pisa 20 1 10 9 15 30 13

THE national men’s hockey squad’s tour of Australia, from today to Jan 25, will act as final preparations ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Ismailia, Egypt in March. Head coach Sarjit Singh said the five-match tour, three against Australian club Thundersticks (Jan 16, 17 and 22) and two against the Australian national team (Jan 20 and 24), would help determine who among the 22 players would be included in the 20-player-strong World Cup qualifying team. “The coaches will assess players who display their best performance, are compatible as a team and adapt quickly in various match situations,”he said, as he expressed his hope that all the players would prove their ability to react positively when faced with the pres sures of selection. “The Australian

called up for training camp – Andywalfian Jeffrynus, Muhammad Adam Ashraf Mohd Johari and Muhammad Danish Aiman Khairil Anuar – and will be with us. “This combination is important to ensure team balance, and to provide junior players opportunities to gain experience at the senior

TWO of Malaysia’s professional mixed doubles pairs, Jimmy Wong-Lai Pei Jing and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai, advanced to the second round of the 2026 India Open after dis patching their first round oppo nents yesterday. Jimmy-Pei Jin beat Japanese pair Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi 21-10, 23-21 in 36 min utes at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex to set up a second round meeting against either Chinese pair Feng Yan Zhe Huang Dong Ping or Mads Vestergaard-Christine Busch of Denmark. Meanwhile, Soon Huat Shevon Lai beat Taiwanese Wu Guan Xun-Lee Chia Hsin 21-17, 21-17 and will meet either Chen Cheng Kuan-Hsu Yin Hui of Taiwan or Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat of Thailand in the second round. A third Malaysian mixed dou bles pair, Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin unfortunately lost their

first round match 21-17, 16-21, 20-22 to third seeded Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand. Meanwhile, professional men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia also made an early exit from the 2026 India Open after losing his first round match. The 2024 Olympic Games bronze medallist seemed to be trying to find his rhythm during his three-game loss against Rasmus Gemke of Denmark. Zii Jia’s performance was uneven in the first game, which he lost 13-21, but managed to rally to a 21-18 win in the second, but failed to maintain the momentum to lose 18-21 in the decider. This is his second first-round exit this season, following his early exit from the Malaysia Open last week. Zii Jia is trying to make a comeback after withdrawing in the first round of the 2025 China Masters in September last year due to injury. – Bernama of football Wilcox with his vision for the team. Carrick is set to play a 4-2-3-1 sys tem, a move away from the three at the back set-up employed by Amorim. Solskjaer, who has played and managed United, also held talks with the hierarchy over the vacancy. But Carrick has been chosen given he is more of a hands-on coach than Solskjaer. Fletcher, who took charge of the games against Burnley and Brighton immediately after Amorim’s exit, will return to the U-18s. – Agencies

level,”he said in a state ment shared by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation yes terday. Malaysia has been drawn in Pool B for the World Cup qualifiers, together with China, Pakistan and Austria. – Bernama

tour involves a combination of both senior

and junior p l a y e r s . Three of six junior play ers were

National men’s hockey head coach Sarjit Singh. – BERNAMAPIC

Devils reach agreement with Carrick MICHAEL CARRICK has agreed to become Manchester United interim head coach – and former England assistant manager Steve Holland is set to be his No. 2. The 44-year-old had a three-game stint as United’s temporary boss after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dismissal in 2021.

Woodgate worked under Carrick at Middlesbrough and was a team mate of United director of football Jason Wilcox at Leeds. Woodgate managed Boro between 2019 and 2020 and had a short spell as Bournemouth manager in 2021. Former United defender Evans will return to Old Trafford. Binnion is already part of the club’s coaching staff. Carrick held face-to-face talks with United officials last Thursday and is understood to have impressed chief executive Omar Berrada and director

Holland worked under Gareth Southgate when England finished fourth at the 2018 World Cup and were runners-up at Euro 2021 and 2024. He spent several years with Chelsea, where he had major success under a number of managers. The 55-year-old was sacked as manager of Japanese club Yokohama F Marinos in April after only four months in charge.

Jonathan Woodgate, Jonny Evans and Travis Binnion will also be part of Carrick’s staff. United sacked Ruben Amorim after 14 months on Jan 5 and Darren Fletcher took charge as caretaker boss for two matches. Carrick will be in the dugout for Saturday’s Premier League derby against Manchester City at Old Trafford.