Park Hang-seo and his players in training. Vietnam will play Brunei in the first match of Group B at the 30th SEA Games. (Photo thoidai.com.vn) Park saidhe made the decision due to senior players suffering from fatigue afterexerting themselves in domestic and international competitions.
However,the Korean coach still expects his young team to post an impressive scoreagainst Brunei.
“Vietnamare in Group B with six teams. It means we will have to play anextra match compared to teams Group A. The teams in Group B arereally strong so the result of every match is very important. We haveto prepare well for each game and try to do our best,” said Park ata press conference in Manila on November 24.
“We haveto play five matches in 10 days. It means that I have to be able to switch myteam. More importantly, I have to keep them in top form to achieve thebest results in every game,” said Park.
“We willcontinue evaluating Brunei. We will treat Brunei with respect, but we know wehave to score as many goals as possible to give us an advantage in thetable.
“Iprobably won't start my key players, but things might be changed dependingon the situation during the match,” he added.
Vietnamalways come the Games with their target on gold, while Brunei areusually the underdogs at the regional tournament.
They havelost all 24 matches they have played since 2011, and scoredjust seven goals.
Inhead-to-heads between the two sides, Vietnam have won all four games andscored at least six goals without conceding. In their most recent meet, Vietnambeat Brunei 6-0 in March.
AmongBrunei's 20-man squad, 12 are between 17-19. Many of them play in juniortournaments while others do not have professional contracts.
CoachAminuddin Jumat of Brunei said Vietnam were a powerful rival, butpeople underestimated his team.
"Wedon't have any pressure on us we'll work hard for the best result,” he said.
The matchbetween Vietnam and Brunei will be aired live at 3pm Hanoi time on VTV6.
Rialcontenders
AkariNishino of Thailand has already criticised the food and training venues, butthe Japanese side has apologised to Park for Serbiangoalkeeping coach Sasa Todic mocking Park’s height during their WorldCup qualifier last week. Todic posted his explanation two days later but hisapology was not for Park.
Thailandwill face Indonesia is the next fixture in Group B on November 27.
CoachSundramooethy of Laos said: “We are in a group of strong teams but still hopeto go further as we did 10 years ago.”
Laos werethe hosts of the 2009 Games which saw their football team advance to thesemi-finals for the first time where they lost to Vietnam.
Laos willplay Singapore in the last match of the group.
“Group Bincludes defending champions Thailand and title favourites Vietnam,as well as former winners Indonesia. However, there is still chance for otherteams. For Singapore, the first match against Laos is important andwe will try our best,” said coach Fandi Ahmad.
Allmatches will be held at Binan Stadium in Laguna, about 40km from Manila./.
VNA
