VIENTIANE (19 July 2011) – Just like in any other AFF-organised tournaments, there are a lot of work being done before the start of each meet or even before the kick-off of each matches.
And with the final to this year’s AFF Under-16 Youth Championship just hours away, the appointed AFF officials and also members of the Local Organising Committee are already hard at work to ensuring that the game and also the prize-giving ceremony afterwards will go on as seamless as possible.
Other than having to make sure that the playing field is playable, they also have to make sure that the technical lines on the pitch is clearly demarcated.
Given the heavy downpour of the last several days, preparations have also been made to accommodate the possibility that the technical lines have to be touched up either at half-times or in between the two matches.
The staging set for the prize giving has been completed on site and given the weight of it where it required some eight well-built personnel to carry it onto the pitch, it is safe to say that it should meet the requirement of having more than 20 people jumping up and down on it at the end of tomorrow’s evening.
This now comes down to the two teams who will be battling it out tomorrow night for the right to be crowned as the best ASEAN U16 team for 2011 – Thailand and Laos.
Thailand, after a stuttering start against Malaysia in the group match, have finally found their footing and confidence when they survived some harrowing moments against Singapore in the semi-finals.
But tomorrow against hosts Laos, the Thais have to make sure that they keep their emotions in check while at the same time, play their normal game and not bow to the pressure from the stand.
“The boys are playing better and better and in the last few games, they are playing at a level which I know they are capable of. They might not play it consistently enough but they are young players,” said Sasom Probprasert, the chief coach of Thailand.
“For the final match, we have to play differently from what we have done in the group and in the semi-final match as we are playing against the hosts afterall.”
In the meantime, hosts Laos have to change their game plan regardless of whether they wish to do so or otherwise, considering that they have a player suspended.
Striker-turned-defender Sonevilay Sihavong was red carded in the last game and will not be available for the final match against Thailand.
“It was unfortunate (the red card) but we have to move on obviously,” said Han Hyong Il, the chief coach of Laos.
“It will be close game in the final and we have to work on a few things to make sure that we have a different result this time round against the same opponent.”
The last time Thailand and Laos played against each was in a Group A match and it ended in a 1-1 draw.
FINAL FIXTURES (20 July 2011)
1700hrs: Myanmar vs Singapore
1900hrs: Thailand vs Laos
