Agree with you in that Vietnam went all out at the beginning and wanted to deliver Myanmar a knock out punch. But Myanmar held on well the remaining of first half. After Kyi Lin's equalizer in the second half I did feel Myanmar had a chance to take the lead as they had the better share for a good 20 min (perhaps from 55- 75 min period). Overall a decent score. The fact that Thailand won by only a one goal margin against Philippines makes this group open. We will probably have a better feel after Nov 24 games.
I was surprised to see how many empty seats there were in the Thailand Philippine match. Being a game involving the host, I thought the Thai supporters would fill the stadium, but it looked like the stadium was less than half full. Acc. to some in the media, maybe it was because of the lack of promotion as there weren't enough signs to indicate that the Suzuki cup was going on. Also, apparently there was a huge political anti government rally going on in another part of town that might be attracting the interest of Bangkok residents. As for the Thailand Philippines game, Thailand deserved to win the match since they played a better game overall, although the physical manner of their win resulting in 2 of our players getting injured, with Phil Younghusband having to leave the game because of a bulging hematoma above his left eye and Juan Guirado getting elbowed in the face resulting I heard in a lost tooth, was not exactly sportsmanlike. The officials I felt, were not doing a good job controlling the physical nature of the game, giving the home team license to abuse some of the Philippine players. I was impressed however by the way the Thai coach Schafer was marshalling his troops in the end, keeping possession and using delaying tactics to waste the time remaining, all hallmarks of an experienced and well coached team. In contrast, our coach Weiss was ejected from the game at that same stage for an immature and silly act, throwing the ball at an opposing player, which means we will probably lose him in the next game against Vietnam. I think we will be okay if we can get past the group stage and have at least one leg in front of our home crowd, but there are still 2 major obstacles to overcome and the next game will be the most important one for both Vietnam and the Philippines. Congratulations to Myanmar for surprising everyone and forcing Vietnam to a draw. The group indeed is still wide open and all the teams still have chances to advance.
BTW I have had experience training in Muay Thai martial arts and I can honestly say that some of the Thai players did too by the way they were using their elbows and knees. haha.
Moving on to today's Group B matches. If only Timor Leste or Brunei qualified for the main stages, all the matches in this group would have been tagged as derbies, being situated close to each other and having cultural and socio-political similarities. But since Indochinese nation Laos secured their fate in this group instead, I am not that giddy or ecstatic for their match against Indonesia. Even if there are obvious setbacks going on at the Indonesian side, I believe they can do Laos lots of trouble with Irfan Bachdim around. But I can't underestimate Laos either, which caused our Philippine team so much trouble in their last friendly (albeit with their biased non-FIFA sanctioned referees). The Causeway Derby between Malaysia and Singapore will be interesting again tonight, given their recent back-to-back friendlies early this year. I'd still believe Malaysia will win this one in front of their home crowd as I feel Singapore's ageing personnel (no disrespect to Ðuric though) and a dismal midfield will be a factor to lose their chance to upset Malaysia at their turf.
I was surprised aswell. Maybe the rain put many people off?? There was a rally going on aswell in which the police got heavy handed and appeared to want to start an all out war which isn't good news when rallying in Thailand. As for the promotion of the game itself. Yes, promoting the event only seems to have happened after the Futsal World Cup was completed, almost like the FA can't organise how to promote two events at the same time!! Regional League games in Thailand are also at a key stage and many hardcore fans might of choosen to watch them on TV than go to the ground. Many 'farang' who claim to go to games in Thailand also didn't appear to want to go to the game and rather sit at home and watch - not entirely sure why.
He did announce prior to the Suzuki Cup that this will be his final tournament. It is amazing that he can still perform at this level into his 40's. As for the other results, Laos holds Indonesia to a 2-2 draw and defending champion Malaysia continued their streak of poor form lately by losing 0-3 to Singapore.
Yoma, I missed the match. But I was quietly confident that Myanmar would get a result against Vietnam. It wasn't a surprise to me. I was very happy but it wasn't a surprise. With our coach, Park Sung Hwa, a realistic man, if he says he's pleased with Myanmar currently (with the small amount of training time he has had), I believe him. He also said that if Myanmar gets to the semis, anything can happen since semis are going to be played home-away. If I'm not wrong, Myanmar has not lost matches to Asean countries at home. Laos's draw against Indonesia proved that Myanmar's draw against Vietnam was not a big surprise.
I looked on the FIFA website, I was interested to see just how often Myanmar had hosted other ASEAN teams, and in truth, not much. Only Malaysia have beaten them in Myanmar, way back in the 60's, everyone else is jsut about lucky if they have ever been invited to Myanmar, most of the games have been played on neutral soil. I would like to see the championship held in Myanmar one day. Three of the last four editions have been held jointly in Thailand. It's about time someone else got an opportunity.
druryfire, you're right. Besides big tournaments, here are three friendly matches played in Myanmar in the modern days, as far as I could remember. The scores might not be accurate but I know who won or lost. Myanmar 4-0 Malaysia (4-0? 4-1? 4-2? I forgot) - Royal Challenge Cup (Myanmar's major friendly tournament) Myanmar 2-1 Indonesia - Royal Challenge Cup (round robin?) Myanmar 2-1 Indonesia - Royal Challenge Cup (final?) Myanmar 1-1 Singapore - FIFA friendly Youth tournaments - A lot. Friendlies too. I won't go into details about this one. It's true there weren't a lot of matches. But compared to away games, we play better at home for some reasons.
Agreed, I am quite impressed with Coach Park. He has instilled discipline and shape into our team, both required for executing game plan. Against Vietnam, I don't recall any yellow cards given to our team (maybe 1?). Yan Paing played around 60 min, did his job and was replaced by Kaung Si Thu. Kyi Lin is really good, no flash in the pan - but still a little raw, wants to do a lot on his own. He needs to use his supporting attacker(s) more. But we need a solid game from Kyi Lin to get a result against Thailand.
Here are the results at home against ASEAN countries in recent times aside from AFF qualifiers in 1998 and 2012. Pretty good home record. Best results before that was in Olympic games qualifiers in 1972 when they were still called Burma and defeated Thailand twice 7-0 and 1-0 and Indonesia 3-0. 2002 Myanmar 1-1 Malaysia Myanmar 0-0 Malaysia 2008 Myanmar 2-1 Indonesia Myanmar 4-1 Malaysia Myanmar 2-1 Indonesia(presumably finals) 2011 Asian Challenge Cup Myanmar 1-1 Philippines 2012 Myanmar 1-1 Singapore
@IanGriffiths67 AFF Suzuki Cup: Hearing Thailand midfielder Datsakorn Thonglao is a doubt for Tuesday's Group B game v Myanmar. Groin injury Ian is senior editor for espnstar.com
Philippine 1-0 over Vietnam on a goal by subsitute Chieffy Caligdong. Fellow sub Angel Guirado made a huge impact on the game after being subbed in the 2nd half with his speed and heft. 2nd straight win for the Azkals over the Vietnamese in the Suzuki Cup. On the negative side, the usually dependable Phil Younghusband was relatively ineffective in this game, wasting a few good chances and was subbed out early in the 2nd half. Again I was a little disappointed in the attendance. Huge stadium looks empty without the support of the Thai fans. Fortunately the Vietnamese ultras and Filipino fans created enough noise to provide a good atmosphere despite the many empty seats. Vietnam needs to win their last game now to have any chances of advancing while all the Philippines needs is a draw. The Philippine defense was very solid today and our diminutive local goalkeeper deputize very capably in the absence Etheridge and Muller making a few key saves to preserve the shutout and the win for the Azkals. Good luck to Myanmar on their next game against Thailand and watch out for those Muay Thai elbows and knees to the head that the Thais used in their game against us.
Pelefan - congratulations on your win over Vietnam. Thais were just too strong for Myanmar. Interestingly, all three are still in contention, although the Azkals control their fate. A tie or better against Myanmar and they are through. If Myanmar wins and Vietnam does not win against Thailand (very likely), then Myanmar goes to the semis. Makes Friday's games meaningful.
Indeed all the teams are still in contention. Still a lot to play for. Myanmar has no choice now though but to go for a win so they have to attack. Good luck and here is to a wide open and exciting game on Friday.
Will they make their minds up? Once again, venue change in Thailand. Philippines - Vietnam now back at Supachalasai Stadium http://www.aseanfootball.org/?p=10957
You must mean Philippines Myanmar and Thailand Vietnam druryfire. The other teams probably don't know the difference in regards to those venues, unless of course the stadium is closer to their respective countries and will be easier for their fans to reach. BTW, I really like the way Schafer is organizing his team. I have always admired his style of coaching and his team is starting to earn the moniker the Brazilians of Southeast Asia from the way they are passing the ball around. Everyone thinks Thailand is going to reach the finals and are now the favorites to win it all.
The Philippines will lose starting defensive midfielder Jerry Lucena who plays for Esjberg of the Danish Superliga for the match against Myanmar as he is needed to finish the season with his club. He will return in time for the semis if we advance as their season will have ended by then.
Yeah, sorry thats who i meant, just testing Supachalasai Stadium is closer, although Muang Thong Stadium wouldn't have been hard to have gotten to. I'm thinking that they were hoping they could get a decent sized crowd in at Muang Thong Stadium, but it appears that no one really cares about this tournament in Thailand at the moment - so why make the current travelling fans ave to travel 40 miles up road when theirs one right in the Bangkok city centre thats easy to get to - with a few other grounds in short walking distance to look at befire the match aswell if interested
Actually he is to finish the mid-season. Winter break in the Superliga is a week away IIRC and they return playing by mid-March.
That is what I meant. No active games going on so Lucena will be free to join the Suzuki Cup after next week.