Myanmar unexpectedly holds open practice in front of Vietnamese media
Coach Antoine Hey, on the evening of November 19, changed his mind and allowed reporters to enter the field to witness the Myanmar team's final practice session before the match against Vietnam.
The Myanmar team started their training session at Thuwuna Stadium, on the outskirts of Yangon, at 7:00 p.m. local time, half an hour after the Vietnamese team finished their training session at the same stadium.
The temperature in Yangon is currently around 33-34 degrees Celsius, but not too hot. However, the Myanmar players still poured a lot of water on their heads and bodies to cool down.
Coach Antoine Hey initially intended to only let the media cover the warm-up session, and practice the tactics in private. But after realizing that only a few reporters remained, he and his assistants discussed and then let the Myanmar team practice in public.
This was a somewhat surprising decision by the German coach. Previously, team leader Than Toe Aung declared that he would not let any images or information about the Myanmar team's training session leak out to avoid being caught by Vietnam.
After the warm-up, the Myanmar players practiced kicking, then divided into two teams to practice on one half of the field.
Practice sparring in a narrow space, but Myanmar players only compete at a moderate level, limiting collisions to minimize the risk of injury.
Myanmar's mainstay centre-back Zaw Min Tun (number 32) and striker Aung Thu laugh happily after a situation where the team wearing no bib shorts scored an own goal.
Myanmar and Vietnam are both on six points and have a goal difference of (+5) after two matches in Group A of the 2018 AFF Cup. However, the Thuwuna home team currently holds the top spot thanks to a better number of goals (7 compared to 2).
The match against Vietnam tomorrow, November 20th, promises to have a huge impact on Myanmar's chances of advancing. In the final match, they will have to play away at Malaysia, while Vietnam will play at home against the weakest opponent in the group - Cambodia.
Striker Aung Thu (number 10) is the biggest hope in Myanmar's attack at the AFF Cup 2018. He broke his arm before the tournament, but recovered in time to play, although he still had to wear a bandage on his arm.
Coach Antoine Hey began leading the Myanmar team in mid-May 2018, under a one and a half year contract. The German coach is said to have brought a new, more positive breeze to the Myanmar team. However, it will not be until the match against Vietnam at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, November 20, that the effectiveness of Mr. Hey's work for Myanmar will be proven.
