Physiotherapist Kim Leong, known to us as coach Leong was a good man. He used to coach us during football preparation for the 6th Yayasan games (Pesaya) back in 2001. With a background of a physio, he taught us not only how to play a technical/tactical match but also how to handle our physics in a challenging games like football. At the end of the tournament, Yayasan Perak ended up in third place, a notable position for a new team grouped and blended for the last 3 months.
Coach Leong had that characteristic of a man that anything came out from his mouth will be obeyed without much confronting. Thou some of us might ended up vomit at the far corner of the field resulting from his daring style of coaching. Within 3 months he turned us from a bullied 4 nil team (at a frendly by Tambun Army) to a 2-1 quarter final wins against Pahang (with the likes of Azharuddin Aziz, a prominent semi-pro player at that time). We lost to eventual winner Sabah 6 nil thou in an opener (hehe..). Coach Leong made us walk heads up every time we entered the field. And that feeling of high spirited, full of confident player was all over for the next few years playing football.
Thank you from all of us – the Yayasan Perak 2001 footballers under your service, Riazuan, Shahrul Izham, Zaraq, Suhaimi (GK), Yusri, nawawi, Anwar, Syed, Jefri (C), Zulkifli, Fadil and Team Manager, En Shafaruddin.
Coach Leong died of a heart failure at the Seremban General Hospital yesterday at 2.13am.
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