HO CHI MINH CITY (1 Sept 2012) – The searing afternoon heat and the evening downpour will be the unpredictable factor in the AFF Under-19 Preparatory Tournament which will begin tomorrow at the Thong Nhat Stadium.
Four teams will clash in this preparatory tournament which is being used as a testing ground for the AFC U19 Championship later this year.
But the weather here in Ho Chi Minh City has been very unpredictable of late where the sun and the rain seems to be taking random turns in taking a swipe on this city of close to 10 million.
“The big factor is the heat and the other teams will realized just how bad it can be when we start the tournament tomorrow,” said Simon Roberts, the team manager of Australia.
“It will be a great tournament for us and a great opportunity for us to look at the other teams. We just came from Hong Kong (where we beat the Hong Kong U21 team 3-0), so we are in good shape for this meet.”
While Australia are concerned about the weather Uzbekistan – whom they will play against in the opener tomorrow – are cagier about their programmes.
“It is all part of the plan,” said Evstafeev Aleksey, the chief coach of Uzbekistan. “This tournament is a very important preparation for the AFC where we would like to see the level of the other teams.”
In the meantime Vietnam team manager Truong Hai Tung, said that said since they are in the same group with Uzbekistan for the AFC U19 Championship, it was important for them to assess their opponents.
Where from here, they will know exactly what needs to be done for them to be competitive in November.
“We spent some ten days in Gia Lai and played three games against the Vietnam U21 squad – we won once, drew once and lost once,” added Hai Tung.
“This meet will is good where we will play against good teams although for us, we need to know where we stand against Uzbekistan which is more important.”
Akbar Mohammadi, the chief coach of Iran, will be hoping that the tournament here will give his team some valuable insights to their preparation for the main event.
“Before coming here, we played against Uzbekistan twice (a 3-1 win and a 2-1 loss) in friendlies, so it will be interesting to see how things will turn out in a competitive atmosphere,” added Akbar.
“We are here with our complete line-up of players, so we are looking forward to our first game.”
AFF UNDER-19 PREPARATORY TOURNAMENT 2012
(All matches at the Thong Nhat Stadium)
2 Sept 2012: Australia vs Uzbekistan (1600) / IR Iran vs Vietnam (1830)
4 Sept 2012: Uzbekistan vs IR Iran (1600) / Vietnam vs Australia (1830)
6 Sept 2012: Australia vs IR Iran (1600) / Uzbekistan vs Vietnam (1830)
8 Sept 2012: 3rd Position vs 4th Position (1600) / Winner vs Runner-Up (1830)
