Thai reporter: "See Vietnam or Indonesia at the AFF Cup 2018 final"

Thailand always considers Vietnamese football as a rival. Photo: AFF

According to the results of the AFF Cup 2018 group draw on the afternoon of May 2, Vietnam and Malaysia are in Group A with Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. Meanwhile, Thailand is in Group B with Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and the winner of the play-off match between Timor-Leste and Brunei.

As experts have predicted, Group A is considered the “group of death”. Responding exclusively to Nghe An Newspaper reporters about the draw results, reporter Bee Uamklat of Thailand’s Fourfourtwo magazine highly appreciated the chances of Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand advancing further.

“Thailand is in a group similar to the 2014 AFF Cup, but it will not be easy for us when Indonesia and the Philippines are both getting stronger. Because recently, FIFA's ban on Indonesia has been lifted. Although the Philippines is missing many important players, they have many quality naturalized players playing in Southeast Asian national championships such as goalkeeper Falkesgaard (Bangkok United) or striker Javier Patino (Buriram United). Therefore, Thailand will face many difficulties compared to the 2016 AFF Cup,” Bee Uamklat commented on the Thai national team's chances.

Reporter Bee Uamklat (in white shirt) of Fourfourtwo magazine Thailand. Photo: NVCC

With the feat of winning the runner-up position in the AFC U23 Championship, the admiration that Thai people have for Vietnamese football, Bee Uamklat said: “Vietnam is truly a great opponent, I believe that Coach Park Hang Seo and his team will enter the semi-finals as the first team in Group A. Because Malaysia has not been able to return to their glory days. At least Vietnam will reach the semi-finals. However, I think Coach Park has helped Vietnam become much stronger than 2 years ago. Now most of the Vietnamese players are young, play in the style of Korean players, move a lot and coordinate well as a team.

Finally, the reporter working for the prestigious magazine FourFourTwo analyzed: “There are many international tournaments this year, I think physical strength is a matter worth paying attention to. In addition to luck and expertise, that is the deciding factor. This depends on the calculations of the managers. Especially, when the majority of the Vietnam national team is from the U23 age group and must participate in the Asian Games. I think Vietnam must focus on defense if facing Indonesia. If Vietnam does not meet Thailand in the final of the AFF Cup this year, it could be Indonesia, they are really very worrying.”

Thailand coach Milo Ranieres is confident of successfully defending the AFF Cup title. Photo: FA Thailand

Mr. Milo Ranieres, head coach of the Thai national team, confidently responded on the Thai Football Federation's homepage: "With such a draw result, I see nothing too difficult for Thailand. We are ready to compete and defeat any opponent. We will meet the Philippines, they are ranked above us on the FIFA rankings. And after the AFF Cup 2018, we will have the opportunity to improve our ranking if we defeat them. Right now, we will select the best players and make detailed plans for the tournament."

At the AFF Cup 2018, Thailand will meet Brunei or Timor-Leste, then Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore in the group stage. Meanwhile, Vietnam will meet Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia./.

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