| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
KORAT, Thailand : Seven-time defending champions Thailand bid to continue their domination of the SEA Games football tournament this week after qualifying for the semi-finals with maximum points.
The host nation, who started their winning sequence in 1993, will play Singapore in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
In the other match, Vietnam, who topped their group, will clash with unfancied Myanmar.
Singapore, ASEAN champions at senior level, appear to hold no fear for Thailand coach Thongsuk Sampahangsit, who had wanted to meet Malaysia but said his men were good enough to finish off their semi-final opponents.
"We are much better and will advance to the final," he said, according to the Bangkok Post.
He will go head-to-head with Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic, who was a relieved man when his side scored the equaliser they needed to qualify just minutes from full-time against Malaysia Saturday.
Following their 1-1 draw he said: "I think the favourites are Thailand and Vietnam because they have had a long time to prepare."
Even before this under-23 tournament began, Vietnam Football Federation chairman Trong Hy Nguyen was talking up his team's chances.
"We have asked them to deliver nothing short of a gold medal," he said, according to Malaysia's New Straits Times.
The Vietnamese will be looking to do their talking on the pitch in a bid to erase memories of a match-fixing scandal against the same opponents.
A Vietnamese court earlier this year jailed two former footballers for rigging a match against Myanmar at the 2005 Games in return for cash from a betting syndicate.
Thailand eased through their four-team group here with wins over Myanmar and Indonesia, and an 8-0 thumping of Cambodia. A 6-2 thrashing of Cambodia meant Myanmar edged out Indonesia on goal difference.
Vietnam, who took the silver medal at the 2005 SEA Games in the Philippines, topped their group after wins against Malaysia and Laos. They lost to Singapore, who qualified from the group in second place.
Thailand, chasing their eighth consecutive SEA Games football gold, last failed to win the tournament in 1991, when Indonesia took the title at the biennial games.
The final and the bronze medal match are scheduled for Friday. - AFP/de
|
