The sacked Hearts of Oak head coach Martin Koopman was briefly in charge of the Maldives national men’s football team between January 2020 and June 2021 before coming to Ghana to take the Phobian job.
The Dutch trainer did not win any of his three matches played as Maldives head coach. He lost two games and drew the other one before quitting the job , and it is what surprises many people why he landed the role at Hearts of Oak in the first place?
In fact , before Hearts of Oak completed the agreement with Koopman , other local coaches were available in the market. Ignatius Osei Fosu , Bashiru Hayford , former trainer Samuel Boadu , and co were all there but Hearts decided to go for an expatriate trainer who had not coached any team in two years.
The outcome is there for all to see : dreadful.
Below are the results of Koopman in charge of Maldives National Team :
2022 FIFA WCQ. Maldives 0 Syria 4 on 4th June 2021
2022 FIFA WCQ. China PR 5 Maldives 0 on 11th June 2021
2022 FIFA WCQ. Philippines 1 Maldives 1 on 1th June 2021
As a matter of fact , Koopman has won just two games in his last 23 matches since January 2017 as coach of Hearts of Oak , Aruba and Maldives combined.
The Phobians were nearly relegated from the Ghana Premier League last season and the signs are not good so far this season.
It is fair to say Hearts of Oak have failed to properly replace Samuel Boadu who was fired in September last year.
