YANGON (6 Oct 2012) – The hot start to the first match day of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 qualifying round should continue to tomorrow as several teams look to stamp their authority and jostle for the only two available spots to the final round.
But hot is not just a reference to the competitive atmosphere generated by the four teams who took to the field at the Youth Training Centre where the afternoon biting heat was also a little hard to bear.
Whatever the case may be, the first game tomorrow will be nothing short of explosive as the two winning teams from the first day – Timor Leste and Myanmar – look to pick up further points and add further cause to cement their positions to the final standings.
“I have to admit that we are a little weak defensively and this is something which we need to work on before the next game (against Timor Leste),” said Park Sung Hwa, the chief coach of Myanmar.
“With tall players from Timor, we have to be careful with the long balls and also the floaters into the box.”
While the close 1-0 win gave Myanmar their first three points in the competition, the manner with which they had to toil to earn it must have raised some concerns. Or perhaps gave a certain sense of satisfaction from the Timorese side who are now confident that they can win their first ever place in the final round.
“The one day rest will be good for the players as we will be taking on the host next,” said Emerson Alcantara, the chief coach of Timor Leste.
“It is very difficult to play against the hosts as they will have their home supporters and their confidence will be high. Obviously we have to prepare for this.”
While both Myanmar and Timor Leste are in a confident mood, Cambodia will be under pressure following yesterday’s big loss to Timor Leste where they will have less than 24 hours to regroup and re-strategize as they prepare to take on Laos.
Cambodian chief coach Hok Sochetra was left wondering what happen last night although he realised that he will have to pick up the morale of his young players when they take on a Laotian side which had consistently qualify for the final round since 2007.
“With the several injuries to the senior players, we have to use a lot of the players from the Under-21,” added Sochetra.
“It is not a great situation to be in but that is what we are left with. And with young players, their level of concentration is unpredictable.”
For Laos, the rest day yesterday meant that they had the advantage of looking at the four teams who took to the field yesterday.
“Slight advantage yes but not much,” said Laos chief coach Kikuchi Kimura. “For me, it is better that I prepare my team as well as I can.”
AFF SUZUKI CUP 2012
Qualifying Round
– Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Timor Leste
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STANDINGS
|
TEAM |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
PTS |
| TIMOR LESTE |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
+4 |
3 |
| MYANMAR |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
+1 |
3 |
| BRUNEI |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
-1 |
0 |
| CAMBODIA |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
-4 |
0 |
| LAOS |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
