Raddy: Come
and get it, Thailand
Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic has challenged Thailand to
wrestle away the Asean Football Championship crown from the
defending champions, ahead of the first leg of the Final at the
National Stadium on Wednesday.
Having already downed traditional rivals Malaysia 5-4 on penalties
in an epic second leg semi-final over the weekend, the Serbian
issued a come and get it cry to three-time champions Thailand,
the most successful team in the history of the competition.
"We (Singapore) are still the defending champions," he said at the
pre-match press conference on Tuesday. "Thailand will have to be at
their best to beat us." "It will be a close game and it wont be
decided tomorrow. You have two equally strong teams and the team
that plays better in both legs will win it."
Despite Thailand seemingly holding the proverbial Indian sign over
the Lions as long as most people can remember, Avramovic feels
history and statistics matter little in a big game like this. "This
is now what I would call real football atmosphere. It is a shame
that we dont get many big international games like this more
often," said Avramovic.
"I dont care what happened in the past. Tomorrow is a brand new
game, Thailand are playing with a new team and we are playing with
a new team. So the result tomorrow will have nothing to do with
what happened in the past. "The result tomorrow will depend on what
happens on the pitch tomorrow."
Thavatchai: Happy with a
draw
Meanwhile, Thailand team manager Thavatchai Sajakul is keen to play
down his side's chances in this upcoming first leg. "It is a worthy
final," he said. "Of course both teams have a 50-50 chance of
winning it and we hope we will be able to get a positive result
tomorrow.
"Everytime I watch Singapore play (in the competition), I can see
that they have improved from their previous game. It will not be
easy for us." "Because of that, we would be happy with a point
(draw)."
Modesty and gamesmanship aside, Thavatchai's approach ahead of the
match probably stems from the fact that Thailand had to travel down
from Bangkok after their goalless draw against Vietnam on Sunday,
while the hosts for the first leg have had an extra day's
rest.
Also, they will be missing the services of their talismanic captain
and forward Kitisuk Senamuang. "We have four to five players who
are still not fully fit. Even if they play tomorrow they will only
be 60% to 70% fit. We will look at these players again tomorrow and
then decide whether we can play them or not."
Midfielders Datasakorn Thonglao and Nirut Surasiang, as well as
right sided defender Suree Sukha, are still carrying knocks
suffered earlier in the competition, Thavatchai revealed. The man
known as 'The Big Boy' also said that he did not think that playing
in front of an expected full-house will necessarily affect his
players too much.
"But I have watched Singapore games on television and I can say
that your supporters really make it frightening for the opposition.
You can almost feel the vibrations through the TV!" The second leg
of the final will be played at Bangkoks Suphachalasai Stadium on
Sunday, February 4.
