SEA GAMES 2011: LAOS NEED TO MAINTAIN FOCUS THROUGHOUT

JAKARTA (13 Oct 2011) – The campaign has not turned out the way Laos had anticipated where after three matches in Group B, the 2009 semi-finalists have only picked up just one point.

They began their campaign with an uncharacteristic 3-2 loss to ten-man Myanmar while in the second game, they were really lucky to escape with a 2-2 draw when they scored the all-important equaliser right at the death.

And in their last game, they allowed the Philippines to steal to a 3-2 win with two late goals from Mark Hartmann.

“It is my duty as the chief coach of Laos to accept responsibility for the losses the team suffered. Afterall, I’m the one who chose the starting eleven,” lamented Hans Schaller.

“In Europe, there is a famous saying which goes something like, if the team wins; it is the players who were responsible. But if the team loses, then is the coach who is responsible.”

What made the insipid performance of the Laos players a little hard to stomach is that in all three matches, they had played against ten men.

While admitting that it is sometimes harder to play against teams with ten men, Schaller admitted that the problem perhaps lie on the Laos players themselves.

“”I don’t know why, but at times, my players looked a bit confused. That’s why we let in the goals. We played well and had ball possession and chances, it was just the result that was disappointing,” he added.

“I don’t know how many chances we had. But that’s football, if you don’t score you draw or lose. It was just a matter of concentration and the boys are just not focused enough.”

Laos will play their fourth game in the group against Timor Leste later today before rounding things up with their last game against Vietnam on 17 November.

SEA GAMES 2011 RESULTS and FIXTURES

GROUP B

DATE	MATCH			GROUP	KICK OFF	VENUE
03.11.2011	VIETNAM 3	vs	PHILIPPINES 1	B	1600 hrs	GELORA BUNG KARNO
	LAOS 2	vs	MYANMAR 3		1900 hrs
04.11.2011	REST DAY
05.11.2011	BRUNEI 1	vs	TIMOR LESTE 2	B	1600 hrs	LEBAK BULUS
	MYANMAR 0	vs	VIETNAM 0		1900 hrs
06.11.2011	REST DAY
07.11.2011	TIMOR LESTE 2	vs	PHILIPPINES 1	B	1600 hrs	LEBAK BULUS
	LAOS 2	vs	BRUNEI 2		1900 hrs
08.11.2011	REST DAY
09.11.2011	MYANMAR 4	vs	BRUNEI 0	B	1600 hrs	LEBAK BULUS
	VIETNAM 2	vs	TIMOR LESTE 0		1900 hrs
10.11.2011	REST DAY
11.11.2011	PHILIPPINES 3	vs	LAOS 2	B	1600 hrs	LEBAK BULUS
12.11.2011	BRUNEI 0	vs	VIETNAM 8	B	1600 hrs
13.11.2011	PHILIPPINES	vs	MYANMAR	B	1600 hrs	LEBAK BULUS
	TIMOR LESTE	vs	LAOS		1900 hrs
14.11.2011	REST DAY
15.11.2011	MYANMAR	vs	TIMOR LESTE	B	1600 hrs	LEBAK BULUS
	PHILIPPINES	vs	BRUNEI		1900 hrs
16.11.2011	REST DAY
17.11.2011	LAOS	vs	VIETNAM	B	1600 hrs	LEBAK BULUS

CURRENT STANDINGS

1. VIETNAM 10pts (+12)

2. MYANMAR 7pts (+5)

3. TIMOR LESTE 6pts (=)

4. PHILIPPINES 3pts (-2)

5. LAOS 1pt (-2)

6. BRUNEI 1pt (-13)