Fegidero takes over from Saintfiet

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine football legend Norman Fegidero was appointed interim coach of the men’s team following the sudden departure of his boss Tom Saintfiet.

Belgian Saintfiet, who came on board last February and called the shots in four losing matches in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, asked for his release to move over to Mali.

Despite his long-term contract and the proximity to the side’s campaign in the Sept. 2 to 10 Merdeka bootfest in Malaysia, the Philippine Football Federation granted his wish.

The PFF handed the reins to Fegidero, one of Saintfiet’s assistants, yesterday. Filipinas coach Mark Torcaso and his staff will help Fegidero, who is best remembered for scoring the winning goal in the country’s 1-0 upset of Malaysia in the 1991 Southeast Asian Game in Manila, in the campaign in Kuala Lumpur.

“Given the circumstances, we needed to act quickly. Norman was the assistant coach in the last four games and was the obvious choice to take charge in the interim,” said Freddy Gonzalez, director of national teams.

Saintfiet will bring along his deputies to Mali and to fill the gap, at least for the Merdeka stint, the PFF asked Torcaso and his group for help.

“It’s unusual to see a crossover of staff from separate teams but it’s a situation that requires a novel solution. This temporary fix will give much-needed time to pin down a permanent head coach,” said Gonzalez.