Brunei will bid farewell to long time national football coach Kwon Oh-son after his contract ended last month. The Korean had spent more than 14 years in the Sultanate and brought us our only Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy (HBT) title in 2012. The 60-year-old and his son Hyuk-soo (who assisted with translation) took some time out to sit down with YEE CHUN LEONG of BruSports News for an exit interview.
What were your feelings when you first knew that your contract wasn’t getting renewed?
After the AFF Suzuki Cup ended last year, we were asked about the training programme for this year’s SEA Games
We thought there were positive talks eventhough the national team didn’t qualify for the main competition of the AFF Suzuki Cup.
(Brunei had lost 3-2 on aggregate to Timor Leste during the qualifiers. Kwon's final last game in charge as the national coach was a 1-0 home win over Timor Leste on Sept 8, 2018.)
It was quite sudden as we were told on March 2 that the contract will end on March 14. It came as a shock but I respect the decision and hopefully they will find a replacement as soon as possible.
What are your immediate plans when you leave Brunei on May 2?
The news came so sudden plus the season is already ongoing in Asia.
For now, the plan is to go back to Korea and rest for a few months and hopefully look for some agents to find a job at the end of this year. Might kick it off with a club or probably another national team should the opportunity come.
Now it is just rest and recuperation because we stayed here for 14 years and need to bounce back as soon as possible.
Considering how long you have been in Brunei, there must be a lot of memories. What were the best and worst for you?
To be honest, the best thing was the whole year of 2012 when we won the HBT and then the national team performed really well (at the AFF Suzuki Cup qualifiers in Myanmar).
I believe at that time the national team were at their highest in the FIFA rankings. It clearly showed that there was improvement.
Then the bad thing is that from that point onwards it went downhill. There is a limit as to how much a head coach and coaching staff can do.
Right now we are around 195-196 in the FIFA rankings is 195-196 as compared to when we were at 170 something.
It is disappointing because I wanted to bring Brunei back up but I didn’t get the chance and time to actually build it up.
You have groomed plenty of players from the likes of Rosmin (Hj Md Kamis), Shahrazen (Said) and Sairol (Hj Sahari). Who do you think were the best players that have played under you?
I can’t really say who was the best because football is a team sport.
Even if an outstanding player goes to a bad team, he won’t be able to perform well. That is the truth.
Like in 2012, all the players performed well and above their standards.
Every player is special. Important is that they play in good conditions to stand out and that was what the Brunei team were before.
You have made many friends during your time here in Brunei. Any words you have for them or anyone else in Brunei?
I’m thankful to the players who have trained under me especially under those intense trainings.
I’m also want to thank the coaching staff for their support and help with translation to get the message across during training sessions.
There was also the charismatic leadership and enthusiasm of Hj Feisal, the manager of HBT in 2012, and the leadership role of Najib (Hj Tarif) as the captain.
I’m also grateful to the fans especially to those that attended HBT and the national team games. Having the national stadium fully packed, that is the most amazing feeling.
Hopefully when new coach comes, he will be able to perform well. We can’t expect immediate impact because the standard now is not like that of 2012.
Brunei had the characteristics… their own style of football which was special but it seems like it is lost.
Hopefully the new coach that comes will know that and find it again just like how Korea got good fitness, Japan got good skills and Iran have good systems. Brunei need to find that again to be successful.
Any advice you can give to any of the upcoming players?
You must have a dream for national duty and a sense of pride and responsibility.
You have to be very disciplined and be vocal to coaches if they are wrong. There is a need to be talkative and have good communication.
Most important is to be able to differentiate on what to watch and what to do in real life. You can watch the English Premier League and Spanish League or follow players like Ronaldo or Messi.
But guess what, they train 4-5 hours minimum per day.
Don’t expect to train once a week and get the same results. There needs to be realism and you cannot expect too much.
There is a need to train everyday and work hard. My philosophy has always discipline and working hard.
Kids these days need to know what they are good at but what is important is also what they are bad at.
You need to know your weakness and work on bettering it. There is no individualism in football. It is all about teamwork and communication.
