Rising coach Firdaus to assist Sundram with national team

SINGAPORE — The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is set to appoint up-and-coming coach Firdaus Kassim (picture) as assistant to national head coach V Sundramoorthy.

The 29-year-old, who began coaching Thai Premier League outfit Chainat Football Club at the start of the year, will assist Sundram in the upcoming Suzuki Cup campaign along with assistant head coach Fandi Ahmad.

Firdaus, who holds Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ‘A’ coaching qualifications, is expected to help out with coaching the Lions, and to double up as a match analyst where he will be tasked to provide analysis of the team’s upcoming opponents.

Firdaus is expected to juggle his new role in the national team with his current coaching position at Chainat. While his one-year contract with Chainat is set to run out in December, TODAY understands that the Thai club is keen to keep the Singaporean on board for next season.

When contacted, Firdaus declined to comment and directed TODAY to send queries to the FAS. The FAS, however, failed to reply by press time despite questions being sent in the afternoon.

This new appointment as assistant national coach represents a remarkable rise for Firdaus.

Once a promising Prime League player, his playing career was cut short because of injury after being on the receiving end of a bad tackle during training.

Determined to stay involved in the sport, however, Firdaus turned his attention to coaching and has not looked back since.

He worked his way up through the local coaching system in the Junior Centres of Excellence (JCOE) and the National Football Academy (NFA) — during which he went on to earn himself an AFC ‘B’ licence — before eventually being appointed the head coach of Hougang United’s Under-18 team in 2015.

He went on to complete his AFC ‘A’ coaching course during the year, which made him the youngest coach in Southeast-Asia to hold the qualification.

Firdaus then joined Chainat as a first-team coach and performance analyst earlier this year, where he was also given an important role in the club’s player recruitment.

While Chainat were eventually relegated — they finished 17th out of 18 teams with 30 points — the club still managed to end the season with some silverware as they won the Thai FA Cup.

For now, though, Firdaus will be focused on helping Singapore achieve their goal of reaching the semi-finals of the Suzuki Cup, which kicks-off next month.

And having been handed a tough group — being drawn alongside hosts Philippines, Indonesia and defending champions Thailand — the Lions will be hoping Firdaus’ experience and technical know-how will make a positive difference to their chances in the tournament.