Check out the 'dark horses' of the Laos team - the first opponent of the Vietnam team at the AFF Cup

Three years ago, the Lao team lost to us 3-0 with goals from Cong Phuong, Anh Duc and Quang Hai. At that time, the neighboring players only held out for exactly 11 minutes before Cong Phuong opened the score for this match. This was a match where we almost did not give the opponent any chance when the central midfielder pair Xuan Truong and Quang Hai controlled the midfield well.

Insufficient numbers

Prepare forAFF Cup 2021Even coach V. Sundramoorthy did not have enough players. He only summoned 26 out of 30 players because 4 players could not participate. This group of players will not return to Laos to concentrate but will fly straight to Singapore before the first match on December 6 against the Vietnamese team at the AFF Cup. With such preparation, the first 3 points will be difficult to escape the hands of the Vietnamese team.

Coach V.Sundaramoorthy's biggest hope is 31-year-old striker Billy Ketkeophomphone (playing in France). This player has played many years in European football in the French second division for Dunkerque Club, and also played a few years in League 1 for Angers Club. In fact, due to his age and slow ability to handle things, Billy Ketkeophomphone has only played 3 matches (out of 16 matches) with 117 minutes on the field.

Billy Ketkeophomphone competes with Angel Di Maria in Angers SCO colours. Photo: Getty

The audience of this country expects "Lao Cavani" with his technical and powerful playing style, combined with his experience playing in one of the top 5 European leagues, Billy will be one of the bright spots in the confrontation between Laos and Vietnam. But personally, I do not rate this veteran too highly, especially when center-back Que Ngoc Hai is a good "anti-Western" player.

In addition, the Lao team also has 3 other players playing in Thailand: Soukaphone Vongchienkharm, Phoutthasay Khochalern, Mitsada Saitaifah. Midfielder Soukaphone Vongchienkharm, 29 years old, currently playing for Udon Thani Club, is a player that needs more attention. Soukaphone was once called "Laos Messi" because of his running style similar to the star currently playing for PSG.

This small midfielder has played football in Thailand for 3 seasons, the first 2 of which were in Thai League 1 for Chainat Hornbil and Prachuap. At only 1.56m tall, he doesn’t have much of a physical advantage, but this winger is very fast, which is why he is a regular in the Udon Thani squad. The “Laos Messi” has played 42 matches for the national team and is the most experienced player when facing the Vietnamese team.

Player ofSamut Prakan City FC

Central midfielder Phoutthasay Khochalern is only 25 years old, playing for Samut Prakan City, the team currently at the bottom of the Thai League 1 table. Coach M. Ishii is a Japanese national, so the Samut Prakan City squad currently has many of his compatriots and Brazilian and Slovenian players, but Phoutthasay is still able to stay, which partly shows the class of this player. Meanwhile, Mitsada Saitaifah is a player for Satun United, playing in Thai League 3. This is only a semi-professional team in Thailand, so perhaps his professional level is not high and in reality there is not much information about this player.

Laos midfielder Phoutthasay Khochalern hopes to score against Vietnam at the upcoming AFF Cup.

We cannot be subjective, just follow the plan of Coach Park and we will have our first victory. Most likely Van Duc will be put on the field when the team plays against a weaker opponent, then SLNA's number 20 will do a very good job of scoring goals.

AT