Kim Swee is thrilled

SO PROUD: Coach glad Nazmi has landed a contract with Portuguese club

Nazmi poses with Portuguese Premier League side Beira-Mar’s scarf after signing a pre-contract agreement.

NATIONAL Under-22 coach Ong Kim Swee could barely contain his joy on learning about Nazmi Faiz Mansor's successful trial with Portuguese Premier League side Beira-Mar.

"We are proud of him. I believe he will go very far. The fact that Beira-Mar gave him a three-year contract indicates that they must have confidence in his abilities," said Kim Swe when contacted in Budapest yesterday.

"It is a big achievement, and testament to our youth development programme. Nazmi has put Malaysian football on the world map."

Nazmi signed a pre-contract agreement with Beira-Mar following last week's successful trial at the club's base in Aveiro.

He joined Kim Swee's squad in Budapest yesterday where they will play three friendly matches from today to May 30 that will also see the team play one match in Slovakia and another in China before facing Timor Leste in Kuala Lumpur as part of intensive preparations for next month's AFC Under-22 Qualifiers. Malaysia are in Group G with South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines and hosts Myanmar.

All the hype, however, is getting Kim Swee somewhat worried as he does not want Nazmi's success to affect his players' immediate task at hand.

"Nazmi has set a benchmark which I am certain everyone of us is happy but we have a major assignment to focus on. I hope that when we do get back to Kuala Lumpur on June 12, the team won't get carried away by all this talk of Portugal and Beira-Mar," said Kim Swee, who had stated before that several members of his squad were on the radar of clubs in Asia and Europe.

These include Wan Zack Haikal Wan Noor and Wan Zaharulnizam, who have postponed trials with a Japanese second tier club due to international commitments.

Nazmi, formerly a member with the Bukit Jalil Sports School Under-14 squad, first represented the Tigers B before Kim Swee included him in his Sea Games squad and later the Olympic side.

"I first spotted Nazmi in one of the local league matches last year. He impressed me and I decided on taking him to Vietnam for a series of friendly matches. The rest is history," Kim Swee added.

Meanwhile, former international K. Gunalan reminded Nazmi to focus on minor things first while in Portugal.

"He, however, must adapt to the food, weather and most importantly learn the language," said Gunalan.