V. Saravanan

V. Saravanan
Personal information
Full name Saravanan a/l Vellu
Date of birth (1978-01-11) 11 January 1978
Place of birth Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position
Team information
Current team
Perak FC (assistant head coach)
Youth career
1997–1998 Perak FA
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2000 Perak FA
2001 Kuala Lumpur FA
2002–2004 Perak FA
2005–2008 UPB-MyTeam FC
2009 ATM FA
2011 PKNS FC
International career
1997–1998 Malaysia U21
1999–2000 Malaysia U23
1999–2004 Malaysia 19 (1)
Managerial career
2012–2022 HJK Helsinki (Youth coach)
2023– Perak FC (assistant head coach)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

V. Saravanan (born 11 January 1978) is a former Malaysian football player. He currently works as an assistant coach for Perak FC since 5 January 2023.

Career

Saravanan spent the majority of his football career at Perak FA, winning two Malaysia Cup titles in 1998 and 2000.[1] He also played for Kuala Lumpur FA, UPB-MyTeam FC, ATM FA and PKNS FC.

Saravanan represented Malaysia 19 times from 1999 to 2004.[2] His only international goal was against Thailand in a 2004 friendly match. Early in his career, he was part of the Malaysia U21 that competed in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, held in Malaysia.[3]

He retired from professional football at the end of 2011 to move with his girlfriend to Finland.[4]

In 2021, he obtained his UEFA A Licence and worked as a physical education instructor in Pajulahti, Finland. He is fluent in Finnish, English, Malay and Tamil.

Prior to returning to Malaysia, he was a football coach for HJK in Helsinki, Finland, in 2019, and served IF Gnistan between 2012 and 2018.

Personal life

He married his long-time girlfriend, Satu Johanna Ekholm, a physiotherapist from Finland working with the National Sports Council of Malaysia. They have a son.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 19 August 2004 Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand  Thailand 1–2 Won Friendly

References

  1. ^ "11 Idaman Semuanya BOLA Pasukan Perak Di Bawah Weigang" (in Malay). Semuanya Bola. 13 June 2017. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  2. ^ Malaysia – Record International PlayersRSSSF.
  3. ^ FIFA.com
  4. ^ Vijhay Vick (21 December 2011). "Finland beckons for Saravanan". Malay Mail via Yahoo Malaysia News. Retrieved 31 January 2012.