Vietnam look to settle old score
Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam and Singapore kick-off their 2004 Tiger
Cup campaigns on Tuesday in a repeat of the 1998 final, which the
Singaporeans won courtesy of a lone Sasi Kumar goal.
Tuesday's Group A match will be the fourth Tiger Cup meeting
between the two sides, with Vietnam having won the most recent
encounter 1-0 in the 2000 edition.
While FIFA ranking and results in all competitions since 1998
suggests that Vietnam are fancied to take all three points against
the visitors, head coach Edson Tavares has played down the
favourites tag.
I wouldnt say we are favourites because football is 11 against 11
and winning or losing is a consequence of the game or the
consequence of the preparation said the Brazilian, who is in his
second stint with Vietnam having been their first ever foreign
coach when he was at the helm for five months back in 1995.
Tavares was playing his cards close to his chest when it came to
who may or may not take to the field against Singapore but is
convinced that if his charges play to their capabilities then they
should be able to slay the Lions.
I dont know too much about Singapore but the point is that we
have a good team and if the players play like they can play, like
they are supposed to play, just like they did against Korea
Republic, then our players should be able to overcome any
difficulties.
Vietnam prepared for the Tiger Cup with a 13-day training camp in
Chengdu in China, although no competitive matches were arranged at
the camp with Tavares instead concentrating on developing the
physical, technical and tactical aspect of his side.
Singapore, meanwhile, arranged a series of friendlies in their lead
in to the fifth edition of ASEANs premier football
tournament.
There was a long period between our World Cup qualifier against
Japan and the Tiger Cup so we needed to arrange some games, said
head coach Raddy Avramovic.
If we hadnt arranged these matches then our preparation would not
have been so good, the former Kuwait Olympic coach said of the
games against Myanmar and Hong Kong, which Singapore won 2-0 and
drew 0-0 respectively.
It was good to play against Myanmar as they are one of the teams
playing in this tournament, continued Avramovic, whose side also
took on Indonesia, Malaysia and a Thailand selection prior to the
Tiger Cup.
Despite some players carrying a few knocks, most notably the ankle
injury of striker Indra Sahdan Daud, Avramovic has a full
compliment of players to select from, and is approaching the match
confidently.
Everyone has an opinion but it is nothing to do with who is the
favourite and who is the underdog, he said.
We are going looking to win the game but we will see what will
happen after 90 minutes. We are not under any pressure and with the
stadium at full capacity, I think it is them who will get nervous
and not us.
