FABIO DA SILVA: I LEARNT A LOT FROM SUNDRAM

Former Jurong midfielder, Fabio da Silva confessed that he learnt a lot from coach Sundramoorthy V. when he was still a rookie coach.

Sundram who has now turned a brilliant coach with his style steeped in pragmatism. He trained a lot of players that make the national team at Young Lions and LionsXII. However, the coach is surprisingly superstitious. The players are known not to cut their nails or their hair on game days to avoid incurring the wrath of Sundram.

The newly appointed head coach of Singapore trained Fabio da Silva who is now a successful school football coach during his days as player-coach in Jurong FC. Fabio said about the coach:
“To him set pieces are the shortest route to scoring goals so we worked on them a lot. And it’s true, you see it paying off in games. I learnt a lot from his set piece preparation. Sundram is a very cleaver coach. He plays smart to win the game, based on killing the opponent’s strengths and playing to ours.”

Sundram said he relished the opportunity to lead the team and could manage the pressure that comes with it. He mentioned that he hopes to perform better in the spotlight as his predecessor Bernd Stange had clashed with local journalists on several occasions.

He said he would be banking on his familiarity with the players to get the best out of them.

Sundram has always been the advocate of winning games first, at any expense. He is known to say that the team could play beautiful football and the players could enjoy it but not at the expense of losing the game. He is also admired for his defensive tag as it helped him lift the Malaysian super League in 2013 with tteh best defensive record. Conceding just 15 goals in 22 games.