The fire is still burning as V Sundramoorthy dreams of helming the Lions again

SINGAPORE – After a hiatus of over four years, former Singapore coach V. Sundramoorthy is itching to return to the dugout of a regional national side again.

The iconic Singaporean footballer last helmed the Laos national team from 2018 to 2020, before taking up the technical director post at the Lao Football Federation, but it is the excitement of coaching that he misses.

The 59-year-old told The Straits Times: “After my role as technical director (ends) next year, I would love to come back to take a (national) team. It could be Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, I’d give it a shot again.

“The fire is still burning. I miss it. I miss the press conferences, the journalists, the fans, I miss the day-to-day action... even the pressure. It’s part of the game, but you have to come back and feel it again.

“That’s something that when you grow older, you reflect on how the journey was, and I feel that you must always take it as a learning curve. It’s a beautiful journey.”

Sundram was back in Singapore for the BYD Football Fiesta, where he and fellow former Singapore international Fandi Ahmad and former Manchester United star Ryan Giggs coached teams in a friendly futsal tournament at ARFC Woodleigh on Feb 22.

Nicknamed “The Dazzler”, Sundram made his name as an attacker with silky skills and deadly finishing for both club and country after bursting onto the scene with Singapore in 1983.

His subsequent coaching career included stints at Lions XII, with whom he won the Malaysia Super League in 2013, and the Singapore national side from 2016 to 2018.

While his term as