Cheng Hoe soldiers on despite loss of a loved one 

KUALA LUMPUR, June 14 -- It was not easy to accept the news of the passing of one’s beloved father just before entering the battlefield, but that was what national football squad head coach, Tan Cheng Hoe, had to go through.

The 53-year-old coach received the sad news a few hours before the Malaysia-Vietnam clash in the Group G match of the second round of the 2022 World Cup/ 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), early Saturday morning.

Despite facing a difficult situation of desiring to be by the side of his beloved family, Cheng Hoe said he had to be with Harimau Malaya at the stadium despite the grief.

“I think throughout my career from playing football, I got the best support from my late father. Of course life has to go on.

"It is not easy for anyone to lose a loved one but there are responsibilities and duties," he said in an online press conference after the national squad training session in Dubai, today.

Cheng Hoe said with the blessings given by his late father over the years, he hoped it would help him in his journey to become a successful coach.

Gloom enveloped the national squad camp as the team was scheduled to meet Vietnam early Saturday morning after being shocked by the news of the passing of Cheng Hoe's father, Tan Chooi Siak, 95, due to old age at noon last Friday in Alor Setar, Kedah.

Malaysia lost 1-2 in the game at the Al Maktoum Stadium, thus ending the national squad’s progress to the World Cup apart from having to go through a more tedious path in the hunt for a slot to play in the final round of the Asian Cup.

Cheng Hoe and the national team now have only one last Group G match against Thailand in the early hours of Wednesday morning, before returning home from the mission which began with an intensive training session in Dubai on May 20 in preparation for the qualifying campaign.

-- BERNAMA