Dato’ Mohamad Bakar – penolong jurulatih tempatan Harimau Malaya
Kim Pan-gon dari South Korea yang dilantik sebagai ketua jurulatih pasukan kebangsaan oleh Persatuan Bolasepak Malaysia (FAM) akan tiba tidak lama lagi bersama empat pembantunya.
Beliau akan melantik seorang jurulatih tempatan untuk membantu membentuk sebuah pasukan Harimau Malaya yang mantap. Dahulu juga beberapa jurulatih tempatan dilantik untuk membantu jurulatih asing bagi memudahkan mereka berinteraksi dan memahami budaya pemain tempatan.
Antaranya ialah Allahyarham Dato’ Mohamad Bakar, seorang Olimpian yang beraksi di Munich ’72. Beliau pernah menjadi pembantu jurulatih kepada Karl Weigang (Jerman) semasa Pra-Olimpik 1980 dan Frank Lord (England) untuk Kelayakan Piala Dunia 1986.
Karl Weigang sangat menghormati penolongnya. Apa tidaknya, Mohamad Bakar bukanlah calang-calang orangnya. Semasa menggalas tugas sebagai ketua jurulatih, Mohamad Bakar telah berjaya membawa pasukan negara muncul juara bersama Pestabola Merdeka 1979 dengan Korea Selatan, memenangi pingat emas Sukan Sea Jakarta ’79 dan melayakkan pasukan ke Piala Asia 1980.
Setahun sebelum itu, beliau menjadi penolong jurulatih kepada Chow Kwai Lam semasa Pestabola Merdeka 1978. Pada tahun itu juga, beliau ditempatkan selama sebulan di Jerman bersama kelab profesional liga 1 Bundesliga, FC Schalke 04. Di sinilah beliau banyak menimba ilmu kejurulatihan.
Mohamad Bakar pernah berkongsi dengan Legasi Lagenda:
“Weigang pernah kata kepada media (tentang saya), He is not my assistant. Dia adalah sahabat saya… Saya coach, dia coach…”
Di bawah kendalian Weigang dan Mohamad Bakar, pasukan bola sepak negara berjaya layak ke Sukan Olimpik Moscow 1980 tetapi tidak beraksi kerana kerajaan memulaukan sukan tersebut.
Pada tahun 1986, Mohamad Bakar telah diberi kepercayaan mengambil tugas jurulatih utama daripada Frank Lord yang meninggalkan pasukan pada saat-saat akhir dengan berbaki satu lagi perlawanan kumpulan menentang Korea Selatan. Pasukan bimbingan beliau yang turut dibantu oleh Khaidir Buyong hanya perlu seri untuk layak ke pusingan seterusnya. Walau bagaimanapun, mereka tewas 0–2 di bumi Seoul.
Semoga sesiapa sahaja jurulatih tempatan yang dilantik untuk membantu Pan-gon akan membawa pasukan kebangsaan ke tempat yang lebih tinggi dan pada masa yang sama menimba ilmu untuk dicurahkan nanti.
Selamat maju jaya dan semoga Harimau Malaya kembali mengaum!
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Kim Pan-gon from South Korea, who was recently appointed as the national team’s head coach by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), will arrive soon with his four assistants.
He will appoint a local coach to help him strengthen the Harimau Malaya team. Local coaches have been appointed to help international coaches in the past to ease interaction with local players and to help learn their culture.
Among them was the late Dato’ Mohamad Bakar, an Olympian who was in action at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. He was an assistant coach to Karl Weigang (Germany) during the 1980 Olympic Games Qualifiers and Frank Lord (England) for the 1986 World Cup Qualifiers.
Karl Weigang had great respect for his assistants. Anyhow, Mohamad Bakar was not just your average coach. As head coach, he successfully led the national team to be co-champions with South Korea at the 1979 Merdeka Tournament, win gold at the 1979 Jakarta SEA Games, and qualify for the 1980 Asian Cup.
A year prior, he was the assistant coach to Chow Kwai Lam for the 1978 Merdeka Tournament. In the same year, he was stationed in Germany for a month with a professional Bundesliga league one club, FC Schalke 04. It was there where he gained a lot of coaching knowledge and sharpened his expertise.
Mohamad Bakar once scared with Legasi Lagenda:
“Weigang once told the media about me, ‘He is not my assistant. He is my best friend. I am a coach, he is a coach.’”
Under the leadership of Weigang and Mohamad Bakar, the national football team qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Unfortunately, they did not play due to the government’s boycott of the event.
In 1986, Mohamad Bakar was entrusted to take on the role of head coach from Frank Lord who left the team at the end of the 1986 Pre-World Cup Qualifying Round. They had one group match remaining against South Korea. The team also assisted by Khaidir Buyong only needed a draw to qualify to the next round. However, they lost 0-2 on Seoul soil.
We hope that the local coach appointed to help Pan-gon will take the national team further and higher and is able to gain knowledge of their own to share later.
All the best and may Harimau Malaya roar again!
