HANOI (7 August 2014) – Despite being drawn in the easier Group A of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2014, Vietnam coach Toshiya Miura is not taking anything for granted ahead of the tournament slated to kick off on 22 November.
Vietnam, the 2008 winners, have a more accommodating passage into the final four where in Group B they have to take on the Philippines, Indonesia and also the runners-up team from the qualifying round in Laos.
“On paper, it might look easier and that we can be a little optimistic but this is very, very wrong. Every game is very hard,” said Miura.
“At the last tournament, we could not make the semi-finals, so we have to be realistic and realized that we will face a very strong challenge from the other ASEAN countries.”
Miura, who recently took over the reins of the Vietnam national side, could not have begun his tenure any better than with a 6-0 thrashing of Myanmar last month.
The win has put a lot of focus back to the national side following recent disappointments and Miura is only well aware of the heavy burdens of expectations.
“There are expectations for sure but this team is still developing, so we have to keep our expectations reasonable. We have to be sensible,” added Miura, whose team will take on Indonesia in the opener on 22 November.
