SINGAPORE (5 June 2015) – Vietnam coach Toshiya Miura has a good reason why the team could not obliterate Laos last night as they had done against Malaysia previously.
Vietnam vanquished Malaysia 5-1 on Tuesday but against Laos, they could only managed to beat them 1-0 – that too with the only goal of the game coming in the 65th minute through Nguyen Thanh Hien.
“We need to rotate the players,” said Miura. “We have little choice as we have to play six matches between a period of 14 days.
“And even though we play a game more than teams in Group A, we are still only allowed to register the same number of 18 players. So we have to make a rotation as otherwise they will not last the pace.”
For the match against Laos last night, the Japanese tactician only retained four players from the previous tie against Malaysia.
The four were goalkeeper Phi Manh Luong, defender Ngueyn Huu Dung, midfielder Nguyen Cong Phuong and captain Que Ngoc Hai.
After the win, Vietnam are now leading Group B with nine points from three matches. Thailand are on the same nine points but are place second due to inferior goal difference.
“We still have two more matches in the group to play for including the tough one against Thailand,” added Miura.
“We want to win both games so that we can win the group.”
GROUP B CURRENT STANDINGS
| No | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | VIETNAM | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | +11 | 9 |
| 2 | THAILAND | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | 9 |
| 3 | TIMOR LESTE | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 |
| 4 | MALAYSIA | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 3 |
| 5 | LAOS | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 3 |
| 6 | BRUNEI | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 | −8 | 0 |
FIXTURES – 6 June 2015
At Bishan Stadium
2030 – Thailand vs Brunei
At Jalan Besar Stadium
2030 – Indonesia vs Cambodia
Vietnam coach Toshiya Miura
