For long the inherent fear has always been home-grown coach could not deliver at international arena. Players would not respect him; he’d not be a fitting personality to drill them into winning fold.  Hence, as the saying goes, any harping on a local candidate would have been unthinkable when at stake are thousands of people’s expectations.  Football being number one sport to employ one would have been a real disaster fraught with dire consequences.

Such are the emotions that run in the heart of folks, the passionate football lovers of this small nation.  The strong desire to excel in football is never compromised at any level. Hence a foreign coach, somehow, is sought at each and every journey into the international sky.

The fact that we never won gold even after several of foreign coaches, with their expertise, time and our money may not be known. It may not be a lapse on their part just like you cannot call for players head for all the blame. However national team’s recent poor run have lent an acceptable air of credence to the wails of cry – in sense a fervent appeal for a Maldivian in the dugout. A strong tide of support indeed for a home-grown talent, after the recent disappointments in Sri Lanka and Doha with yet another foreigner at the helm of affairs.

Suddenly Victory Assistant Coach Ali Suzeyn finds himself forced into – by default or by virtue of his position in the national team – the void left by the coach of Under-23 national team. After what seemed like decades a Maldivian thrust upon the most challenging job in sports calendar, marvelous though it may sound, would inevitably have skipped a heartbeat or two in some quarters

But nobody can question his credentials as coach; he played a major part in Victory’s renaissance down the years with Mauroof winning many championships. Moreover, he was the assistant coach of young national team before his supreme elevation. Though late boomer from Victory – a solid defender – it has to be said his foray into coaching was his real launching pad to public consciousness as a sports icon to be reckoned with.

Authoritative and unyielding in the dugout he embodies many a traits a quality coach should embrace. A binding force that Victory is, certainly Suzayn’s technical knowledge on football did not fall on deaf ears. How fantastically, do they do, season after season, right from scratch. With barely-heard names they jolt the famous star-stud teams.

Now as the coach of junior national team he’s not sitting on his laurels; he has already served notice of his intent, what he wants from the boys. His rhetoric that they had been exposed to extensive range of internal outings cannot be more truthful. This is the time for results! And the real test of his coaching credentials comes when national team travels to Indonesia for the pre-preliminary round of Olympic Games.

We don’t harbor an iota of doubt in his ability, his demeanor suggests otherwise. He dons the mantle of this challenge with the full knowledge the problems junior national team is riddled with, how important this assignment is for his coaching career and the expectations. But then, one tournament is not enough to parade in front of you a winning team. First and for most, he has to discard a dangerous bug afflicting the team once for all. .

It is a contagious disease that needs to be cured urgently. It’s something very real, something that worries many football experts. Right from grass-root level.

Failure is acceptable but it is our meek surrenders, the shameful defeats – the dishonorable ones that have so long annoyed a nation’s psyche.  We understand failure is inheritable part of any sport but it is incomprehensible how we, every time, capitulate from the pole position. Of cause there is something called honorable failures, which is fine, if you fail in countering it rather than shying away from it.  The problem is we fell like a deck of cards at bigger stage.

So precarious the situation where Suzeyn has to begin a treacherous journey with a bunch of youngsters into the international pool of water knowing well how a smooth dive can turn into a tumble. For the real issue plaguing national team is, as always has been, our poor morale at international tournaments. We may look like as good as any regional powerhouses but, it is our lack of self belief and confidence that has cost us dear at crucial moments. At home we can hold out South Korea but on foreign soil the story is terrible.

Band-aid is no cure. Treating symptoms will not cure the disease. A usual aspirin solution will not work when what matters is an effective prescription of a strong dose of antibiotic. Like all the physical trainings their mental faculty has to be properly nurtured, fine-tuned to the task ahead. How many times we lost out on poor psychology!

Big shores to fill in for Suzeyn? Indeed it is – to bail out a badly dented image of a national team people have little faith in, and worse, in the process vindicate his appointment. It could be or it could be not, but can he use the grand opportunity to enhance his reputation as a coach – to banish the mystery, why a home-grown coach is not sought earlier for national team, to the pages of history book. Tall order, huh?