THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM IN DECISIVE HANOI CLASH

HANOI (17 Dec 2010) – It will be more than just a storm in the tea cup tomorrow night at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi and if the calm before the storm at the pre-match press conference this afternoon is any indication at all, the second leg semi-final clash of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 between Vietnam and Malaysia will not be short of fireworks.

The wily Henrique Calisto, the chief coach of the Vietnam national team fired the first salvo this afternoon when he stated that his team should have gotten a penalty in Kuala Lumpur and that Malaysia’s second goal was off-side.

“I saw the video of the match afterwards and I think that we should have gotten a penalty while their second goal was off side. I think that it is a difficult job for us here in Hanoi but not impossible. I know that my team can score two goals although it will be dangerous if Malaysia managed to score one,” said Calisto, whose team will be in their all-white kit.

“We have to play a balanced goal and we have to be careful and not just attack and attack. The pressure is okay but the players should also be careful in defence.

“For us, we welcome the return of three players – Viet Cuong, Trong Hoang and Phan Van Tai Em – so it will be good for the team although Quang Thanh is still 50-50.”

In the meantime Malaysian chief coach K. Rajagobal is playing the underdogs card to the hilt and has understated his team’s ambition.

“It is the right of every coach to analyse their game and all coaches do that, even I. But whatever the misgiving, the end result of the 90 minutes in Kuala Lumpur is that we won,” said Rajagobal, whose team will be in their traditional yellow-black kit.

“I know that we did not play exceptionally well against Indonesia (in their first group match) but we are improving and we know what our players are capable of. They know that they need to get the right result to progress.

“It will be a tough match for sure where I still feel that Vietnam is a strong team. It will a young squad playing against an experienced side. We do not have any injuries and all the players are available for the game.”

AFF SUZUKI CUP 2010, SEMI-FINALS FIXTURES and RESULTS

First-leg – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (BUKIT JALIL NATIONAL STADIUM, KUALA LUMPUR)

15 Dec MALAYSIA 2 VIETNAM 0

First-leg – Jakarta, Indonesia (GELORA BUNG KARNO STADIUM, JAKARTA)

16 Dec PHILIPPINES 0 INDONESIA 1

Second-leg – Hanoi, Vietnam (MY DINH NATIONAL STADIUM, HANOI)

18 Dec Vietnam vs Malaysia (2000hrs)

Second-leg – Jakarta, Indonesia (GELORA BUNG KARNO STADIUM, JAKARTA)

19 Dec Indonesia vs Philippines (2000hrs)