BANGKOK (22 Nov 2012) – The AFF Suzuki Cup, South-East Asia’s premier football tournament that biennially injects zest into the daily lives of millions, blasts off on Saturday (24 November) with eight teams vying to be crowned kings of ASEAN football.
First staged in 1996 and the successor to the Tiger Cup and Asean Football Championship, the AFF Suzuki Cup fires old rivalries, showcases established stars and unearths new talent in a region transfixed by the beautiful game.
The lore and lure of the AFF Suzuki Cup continues to grow with full house crowds and millions of television viewers expected to witness the action over the next month.
Group A will be staged in Bangkok with three-time winners Thailand taking on 2008 champions Vietnam, the Philippines, who rocked ASEAN football to its foundations by reaching the semis in 2010, and qualifiers Myanmar.
The opening double header on Saturday sees Vietnam play Myanmar, who they beat 7-1 in their group encounter two years ago, with Thailand facing the Philippines.
Defending champions Malaysia have home advantage in Group B with the matches being played in Kuala Lumpur.
They are up against 2010 beaten finalists Indonesia, three-time champions and arch-rivals Singapore – Malaysia’s opponents in their opening match on Sunday – and Laos, who progressed with Myanmar from the qualifying round.
The AFF Suzuki Cup captivates the ASEAN region with everyone from Presidents and Prime Ministers to pre-schoolers following the action.
It has already been the subject of discussion on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Cambodia as Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak revealed in a tweet.
“In Cambodia, for ASEAN Summit and some of us talked about the upcoming AFF Suzuki Cup. How do you think our team will do?” he wrote.
The Prime Minister is a proud supporter of the national team and he declared a public holiday after their victory in 2010.
Youthful Malaysia were the success story of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup.
After their best ever campaign highlighted by a 2-0 win over Vietnam in the first leg of the semi-final, they beat Indonesia 4-2 on aggregate in the two-legged final to lift the title for the first time and spark an outpouring of joy across the country.
Malaysia have not produced their form of two years ago in the build-up matches for the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup but coach Datuk K. Rajagobal has belief in the team.
“I can promise everyone that we are focused on the defence of the title and can do it,” he said at a meet-and-greet session with players earlier this week. “Just look at the crowd (here), the support is still strong for the team. It’s fabulous that the fans are behind us.”
Rajagobal will be looking for big performances from the likes of Safee Sali, top-scorer in the 2010 tournament with five goals, and captain Safiq Rahim, a commanding presence in midfield two years ago, to spur Malaysia.
Strikers will be in sharp focus during the tournament with several legends of the ASEAN game eager to make an impact in what could be their last hurrahs to the AFF Suzuki Cup and young guns keen to showcase their wares to watching scouts.
The talismanic Bambang Pamungkas, Indonesia’s most capped player and all-time leading goalscorer, Le Cong Vinh, whose header won Vietnam the title in 2008, and Singapore’s evergreen 42-year-old striker Aleksandar Duric all possess the killer instinct in front of goal that can win games.
Teerasil Danga, joint top scorer in the Thai Premier League with 24 last season, also has the goalscoring ability to light up the tournament and show why he is reportedly the target for a host of European clubs while Phil Younghusband of the Philippines will want to add lustre to his poster-boy popularity with more goals for his country.
Two of the most iconic stadiums in ASEAN, the 49,000-capacity Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok and the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, will be the main venues for the group stage from 24 November-1 December.
Both stadia have witnessed some epic encounters in the AFF Suzuki Cup.
Rajamangala Stadium was the stage for the 2000 showdown when Thailand won the trophy for the second time with a 4-1 victory over Indonesia and close to 90,000 fans at Bukit Jalil Stadium cheered on Malaysia to a 3-0 win over Indonesia in the first leg of the 2010 final.
Muang Thong Stadium in Bangkok and the Shah Alam Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, will each stage one group match.
The semi-finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup will be held on 8/9 December (first leg) and 12/13 December (second leg) with the home and away final on 19 December and 22 December.
