Calisto and other Vietnam officials
HANOI (20 Dec 2010) – Vietnam chief coach Henrique Calisto said that there is no shame in their loss to Malaysia in the semi-finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 this week.
He said that while Vietnam might have failed to defend the AFF Suzuki Cup crown they won for the first time just two years ago, he said that the players could do no better than to put in 100% in every game they played.
“There’s nothing more that can I ask the players other than to do their best and put in 100% effort in every game. They have done exactly that but yet we failed to make the final this year and defend the title,” said Calisto.
“I knew from the start of the tournament this year that it was always going to be difficult to win the crown again. Winning it for the first time in 2008 was a challenge but to defend it would require a bigger challenge.
“Teams playing against us would always want to be beat us and play better as we were afterall the defending champions. But I’m proud of my boys.”
Hosts Vietnam began their title defence at the My Dinh National Stadium this year with a 7-1 beating of Myanmar before losing to the Philippines 2-0 in their second game.
They then rebounded in their third match to win Group B with a close 1-0 win over Singapore.
In the semi-finals, they conceded a 2-0 to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur before their scoreless draw in Hanoi.
“Why should the players feel ashamed? And why should we change the players that we have? We have a set of good players and this considering that we still have several injured players which we can count on in the future,” added Calisto.
“In these two years, Vietnam have won the AFF Suzuki Cup, made the final of the SEA Games and also qualified for the second round of the Asian Games for the first time. We also made the semi-finals in the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 as well, which showed that we are competitive and can give others a good fight.
“So I think that we should not overly read into this loss as afterall this is football – sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.”
AFF SUZUKI CUP 2010, FINALS FIXTURES
First-leg – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (BUKIT JALIL NATIONAL STADIUM, KUALA LUMPUR)
26 Dec Malaysia vs Indonesia (2000hrs)
Second-leg – Jakarta, Indonesia (GELORA BUNG KARNO STADIUM, JAKARTA)
29 Dec Indonesia vs Malaysia (2000hrs)
