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Face of Selangor Football: Coach Lim Chuan Cin


Face of Selangor Football is a collection of interviews and unknown stories of people behind FA Selangor, recorded on the field, inside the stadium, within cities and towns, revealing the human side from them.

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Hi. Good evening to all readers. First of all, I should introduce myself. My name is Lim Chuan Cin.

I am the goalkeeping coach for the current Selangor President squad.

This season is my first season here in FA Selangor.

I was born on 3rd May 1957, about three months after the nation's Independence Day.

So, this year I’m 62 years old. Same age with Malaysia.

I was originated from Melaka, a state rich with history.

I came from a big family with another 14 siblings.

I was the 11th born, the sixth son in the family.

Now, I already married and blessed with three kids and three grandsons and grand daughters.

Both of my girls are working overseas while my only son is still in Penang.

Talking about my football career, I started my professional journey quite early, when I was 18 years old.

During that time, I played for Penjara FC and soon after that, I was called to join the Malaysia B squad in the ’80s.

However, I was also being called into Malaysia A squad during that time.

In front of me, I have the greatest goalkeeper Malaysia ever seen, the late Datuk R. Arumugam as the top keeper, with Rashid Hassan and Hamid Ramli as the second choice goalkeeper.

During that time, I was still a rookie who tried his best to gain as much experience as I can because I was still young at that time, 19 years old.

So I kept learning, seeing what’s happening all around me, and do whatever the coach asked me to and I picked up plenty of new things.

Being with the main squad, I didn’t get much chance to prove myself, but with the Malaysia B squad, I played actively as the main goalie.

Some of my friends back then were arwah Alias Syed Mohd and the late Ong Yu Tiang.

The first time I played for Malaysia A squad was in the 90’s.

I used to play in the Jakartaraya Cup tournament with Datuk Shukor Salleh, Datuk Jamal Nasir and Datuk Arumugam dan we were once crowned as the champion.

Then, we also played in Thai King CUp where we also become champions by defeating the host, 2-0 in front of their home fans.

During that time, we are very strong and feared in Southeast Asia because we have such players in both senior and junior teams like myself.

This is because we see this as a challenge and we need to play our heart out for the badge we have on our chest.

Every time we play, we want to win so badly.

As a very young lad, I always feel that I’m very lucky because I can represent Malaysia during that time.

It was an invaluable experience for me.

Talking about my career with bigger clubs and state, after 5 years with Penjara FC, I moved to Pahang for two years.

After three years, I then joined Melaka and was working with Lembaga Air Melaka (LAM).

When I was with Melaka, I will still play for the national team.

WIth Melaka, I also create good memories there where we become the league champion.

Later, I was invited to join Kwong Yik Finance to play in the interbank league with Mokhtar Dahari where we compete against Public Bank and Bank Bumiputera.

After that, I joined FA Selangor.

What drives me to become a coach?

When I was in my 30s, I started to think about my future.

Until when can I play? Until when will I have all the strength?

From that, I started to plan my future to become a coach.

After taking the coaching license and attending the courses, I was immediately approached by the national team to become their goalkeeping coach, the first in Malaysia.

Ya, you read that right. The first team that I coached was the national team.

To me, its a dream come true as being the national goalkeeping coach is something I wanted to achieve for so long.

Datuk Sari Paul Mony was the secretary-general for the Football Association of Malaysia for that time approached me to become the coach in 2000.

During that time, not many people want to stop play football and become a coach.

So I took that challenge and keep focusing on my new career.

Many experience I had during my spell as the national team’s coach.

Many countries have I visited.

One of the best moments that I can remember was the game against Saudi Arabia in Jordan.

Saudi Arabia was one of the best teams in Asia during that time.

As soon as the game started, many people predicted that our national team will be whacked by the Arab team.

However, during that time, my student, Khairul Azman played so well and managed to produce good saves.

We finished the first half without conceding any goals, 0-0 but we lost 3-nil at the final whistle.

As soon as the final whistle was blown, Arab fans came into the field and lift Khairul Azman for his great performance throughout the game.

They were amazed by how good Khairul Azman performed that night.

I was super glad that moment and I lost for words on how to describe.

This is because the player that I trained played so well and I feel so proud of him.

Other than Khairul Azman, there are few other names that I used to train like Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, Farizal Marlias and many more.

This is because, during the time I’m with the national team, if there are no matches, I will coach at Sekolah Sukan Bukit Jalil.

So, there are many players that I have trained.

Now I’m giving my guidance and sharing my knowledge with FAS President squad.

As of the last words from me, I hope I will be given the chance to give my all at FAS.

I want to see the Selangor flag to fly higher.