JAKARTA (19 Nov 2011) – With all the attention on Indonesia and defending champions Malaysia for today’s showdown, many fail to realise that the other semifinalists – Vietnam and Myanmar – have an even chance of going the distance.
In fact, it would not be a total surprise if Vietnam and Myanmar make the final. With so many reports on the Group of Death, many have not noticed just how well Vietnam and Manamr have played in all their preliminary round matches.
Vietnam have tremendous speed and their players are hardworking and will battle all the way to the end. If Vietnam keep their cool and are not affected by the huge home support, they will give Indonesia a tough fight which honestly could go either way.
The real darkhorses of the tournament is actually Myanmar. They have improved over the years but they have a lot to learn as far as managing their emotions on the pitch.
Many a time in recent tournaments, Myanmar have been undone after losing their cool. Against Vietnam in the group stage, Myanmar were down to 10-men from the 58th minute and that messed up their game-plan.
After the match, Vietnam coach Falko Goetz commended Myanmar’s defensive abilities.
Myanmar could have beaten Vietnam but an attempt in the dying minutes came off the crossbar.
As they did in their earlier matches, Myanmar will likely build from their tight defence and launch speedy attacks to destroy their opponents.
So don’t be surprised if today’s semifinals totally upsets the formbook and Vietnam and Myanmar make the final date on Monday.
SEA GAMES 2011 SEMI-FINALS FIXTURES
19.11.2011 | MALAYSIA | vs | MYANMAR | 1600 hrs | GELORA BUNG KARNO | ||||
VIETNAM | vs | INDONESIA | 1930 hrs | ||||||
20.11.2011 | REST DAY | ||||||||
21.11.2011 | Loser 1st Semis | vs | Loser 2nd Semis | 1600 hrs | GELORA BUNG KARNO | ||||
Winner 1st Semis | vs | Winner 2nd Semis | 1930 hrs |