AFF Cup 2018: Myanmar, an easy opponent
(Baonghean.vn) - Along with Malaysia, the Myanmar team is identified as one of the two main opponents of the Vietnamese team in the group stage of the AFF Cup 2018. However, they are not having the best preparation before this tournament when they have lost 4 consecutive matches.
In 2015, Myanmar surprisingly became the first country in Southeast Asia to participate in the World Cup with the U20 team. The youth training program of this country is being re-planned. Recently, the Myanmar Football Federation decided to appoint Belgian expert Eric Abrams as Sports Director. Mr. Eric Abrams will directly manage the youth teams and plan the development plans for Myanmar football in the coming time.
This football expert contributed to the training of Belgium's youth team between 2002 and 2013.
He used to be the coach of Belgium's U15 and U17 teams and helped develop many of the world's top football stars such as Kompany, Eden Hazard, Lukaku, De Bruyne and Courtois... Most recently, he worked with the Australian Football Federation before coming to Myanmar.
From lose to…lose
But at the national team level, Myanmar players have not shown the expected improvement. At the beginning of the year, the Myanmar Football Federation fired coach Gerd Zeise (Germany) because he could not bring Myanmar to the 2019 Asian Cup finals. Mr. Antoine Hey - another German coach was appointed to replace him to lead the team to the 2018 AFF Cup.
As a player, Antoine Hey played as a midfielder for Swiss club Grasshopper, Dusseldorf, Schalke 04 and Kohn in Germany, then moved to England to play for Birmingham and Britol, retiring in 2004.
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| Coach Antoine Hey is under a lot of pressure after the Myanmar team's poor performance. Photo: Internet |
When he switched to coaching, Antoine Hey worked as head coach of clubs in Africa such as Gambia, Liberia, Kenya, Rwanda, then worked as technical director for the Bahrain Football Federation and the Liberia Football Federation.
Under the German coach, the Myanmar team lost all four friendly matches in preparation for the 2018 AFF Cup. Antoine Hey's students lost to China (0-1), Indonesia (0-3), Bolivia (0-3) and recently they continued to suffer a 1-4 defeat in their away match against Bahrain.
Through 4 friendly matches, it shows that Myanmar's young players are quite immature and follow the opponent's playing style. In the current Myanmar squad, there is no real leader to keep the rhythm of the game.
The Indonesian players (with the strongest force) only needed to accelerate to score 3 easy goals and it is easy to explain why they are losing and losing. In the history of 10 times participating in the AFF Cup (formerly Tiger Cup) up to 2016, they only reached the semi-finals once (in 2004).
Lost many pillars
The Myanmar national team will not have the services of three pillars, defender Zaw Min Tun, midfielder Kyi Lin and striker Kyaw Ko Ko, in the number 1 football tournament in Southeast Asia for various reasons. While Kyi Lin and Kyaw Ko Ko suffered serious injuries and could not recover in time to participate in the AFF Cup 2018, Zaw Min Tun was not called up by coach Antoine Hey due to performance reasons.
Vietnamese audiences still remember Zaw Min Tun as one of the pillars of the Myanmar national team for many years. Myanmar's biggest hope is Aung Thu - a player who is playing in Thailand for the Police Tero Club, but is currently recovering from an injury.
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| Myanmar team (middle) had lost all 4 friendly matches before AFF Cup 2018. Photo: Internet |
Looking at the Myanmar team list, coach Antoine Hey has called up many faces who participated in the U20 World Cup in 2015. He is aiming to build a young team, with a desire to contribute. The group of experienced veterans includes defender Win Min Htut, midfielder captain Aung Kyaw, Tin Win Aung, combined with the new generation of talents of Sithu Aung, Aung Thu and Than Paing.
Myanmar will be in the same group with Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia in the AFF Cup 2018. According to the schedule, Vietnam will play away in Yangon against Myanmar. Their goal is to win home matches, including the Vietnam and Cambodia teams.
However, among the top teams in Southeast Asia, Myanmar is probably the team that the Vietnamese team can play the easiest against, we often win more than we lose. Strong in physical strength, but Myanmar players are a bit rigid in terms of tactics, preferring to attack than defend, playing depends a lot on emotions, and are slow to adjust tactics.
