| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rajagopal Krishnasamy | ||
| Date of birth | July 10, 1956 | ||
| Place of birth | Selangor, Malaysia | ||
| Playing position | Striker (Retired) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| PKNS FC | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1978-1989 | PKNS FC | ||
| National team | |||
| 1980–1982 | Malaysia | ||
| Teams managed | |||
| 1990–1998 | PKNS FC | ||
| 1999–2000 | Selangor FA | ||
| 2001-2002 | Kelantan FA | ||
| 2004–2006 | Malaysia U-20 | ||
| 2007–2009 | Harimau Muda A | ||
| 2009–2011 | Malaysia U-23 | ||
| 2009–current | Malaysia | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Datuk K. Rajagopal, (Rajagopal Krishnasamy) (Tamil: கி.ராஜகோபால்; born July 10, 1956) is a Malaysian football manager and former professional player. He is currently the head coach of Malaysia and former Under-23 Malaysia coach.[1]
Rajagopal is also a football pundit for Malaysian satellite television network Astro, including the twice-weekly FourFourTwo TV Show.
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K. Rajagopal played for PKNS FC in the Malaysian semi-professional league from 1978 until 1989. He is a former national striker, with 20 international caps between 1980 and 1983.
Rajagopal started his coaching career in 1990 with PKNS FC. He also had stints as club coach with Selangor FA and Kelantan FA.
He was made the national coach for the young Malaysia U-20 team from 2004 until 2006; and the Malaysian U-19 (known as Harimau Muda A) in 2007 to 2009. Under his guidance, Harimau Muda A became the Premier League champion in 2009. Since July 2009, he is the head coach for both the Malaysian national and the Malaysian U-23 squad.
Rajagopal is best-known for guiding Malaysia's Under-23 side to its first gold medal in 20 years at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Laos where the team defeated Vietnam 1-0 in the final on December 17 after earlier knocking out 8-time defending champions, Thailand, in the group stage. After the victory, Rajagopal earned the nickname "King Raja". In July 2009, Rajagopal coached Malaysia in two games against English champions, Manchester United, losing in both matches 2–3 and 0–2. He also lead Malaysia national football team to successfully win the AFF Suzuki Cup in 2010.
His philosophy of changing the tactical approach from a defensive to offensive playing style has been rewarded. His young team has shown a high standard of football possession, good defensive structure and clinical finish en route to clinch the AFF Suzuki Cup although his side lost their main charismatic and influential defender (Aidil Zafuan)and many more potential young players from the first team lineup.
On June 4, 2011, K. Rajagopal was awarded the Panglima Jasa Negara (P.J.N) which carries the title Datuk[2] in conjunction with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's birthday, 2011. He was among 67 recipients of the awards from His Majesty Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at Balairong Seri, Istana Negara.