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Stange stays on as national head coach, Technical Director appointment next March

SINGAPORE — German Bernd Stange will continue in his role as national football head coach at least until June’s South-east Asian (SEA) Games on home soil next year.

Singapore coach Bernd Stange (centre) and the Lions at training. TODAY file photo

Singapore coach Bernd Stange (centre) and the Lions at training. TODAY file photo

SINGAPORE — German Bernd Stange will continue in his role as national football head coach at least until June’s South-east Asian (SEA) Games on home soil next year.

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) said today (Dec 29) in a statement that its Executive Committee has reviewed the post-ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup reports submitted by the technical team and backroom staff of the national team shared their feedback with Stange and the team managers.

German Stange, 66, had come under fire after Singapore failed to make it out of the Group stage of the 2014 ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup, in a tournament for which the Lions were defending champions. Following defeat to Malaysia at the National Stadium which sealed the Lions’ fate, members of the national football team had hit out at Stange’s management style, and disagreed over his tactics.

Said Stange, who was appointed by the FAS in May 2013 on a two-year contract: “I have taken the feedback from the management and the team seriously, and will adopt key suggestions as we prepare for three key assignments in the next six months: the National Team’s FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, the Under-23 team’s SEA Games competition and the Under-22’s participation in the AFC U-22 qualifiers.

“I will learn from, and rectify, the mistakes we had made and aim to make our team stronger and better. I am fully focused on the next assignment, and I would like to thank the FAS, its management and staff, our teams and players, and our stakeholders including the fans and the media for their support towards me and the team.”

The FAS said that it will continue to work closely with Stange and the national team backroom staff, and coaches to “ensure they receive the support they need in their preparations for upcoming competitions” such as the 2015 South-east Asian (SEA) Games.

The performances of our national team coaching staff, including Stange’s, will be assessed following the 2015 SEA Games, which remain a priority for the Association, the FAS said.

Separately, the FAS also said it has shortlisted five candidates for the position of Technical Director (TD) with an appointment expected to be announced in March. The new appointee will replace Serb Slobodan Pavkovic who left in September after a six-year stint.

According to the FAS, applications were received from 60 candidates from the top 20 countries in the world football rankings, with President Zainudin Nordin saying he is pleased with the calibre of the applicants.

“We have met with the shortlisted candidates who have shown us their plans for Singapore youth development that are aligned with our goals of producing competitive and winning teams at all age-group levels for key competitions such as Asian Cup, Asian Games, FIFA Asian World Cup Qualifiers,” said Zainudin.

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