Myanmar, Vietnam look to put pressure on Indonesia

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Myanmar and Vietnam are looking to put more pressure on Indonesia in Group A matches of the Tiger Cup when they take to the pitch against lowly opponents on Thursday.

Myanmar will face Cambodia, which has conceded 13 goals in two matches, while Vietnam is paired against the Philippines, which allowed six goals against one in their opening match of the biennial Southeast Asian soccer tournament.

With the ties expected to be lopsided affairs, goals galore looms if results since the kick-off of the tournament being co- hosted by Indonesia and Singapore are anything to go by.

The fate of the contenders for two places in the semifinals will likely hinge next on the Indonesia-Vietnam and Myanmar- Vietnam matches.

Myanmar coach David Booth signaled he was not concerned with how many goals his team would score. He said the 0-0 draw with Indonesia and 6-1 victory over the Philippines in the previous matches had laid a good foundation of his team to go further.

However, with two games to play, he still seemed to be indifferent when assessing his team's chances of reaching the knock-out stage.

"There is still a lot for us to work for. It is important that we beat Cambodia first. Then I think we've got quite a good chance of making it to the semifinals," said Booth.

"Until we can beat Cambodia, there is no point dwelling on our chances for the semifinal stage. We've played two games and I am hopeful that we can improve further," he said, adding that qualification for the semifinals was likely to hinge on goal difference.

The Cambodian camp, which caused trouble during its 2-4 loss to Indonesia, is in good spirits for the game against Myanmar, according to coach Joachim Fickert.

Fickert said he was hoping his team could pick up their first points of the competition.

"We can be successful. Yesterday (Tuesday) it almost happened," lamented Fickert, referring to their game against Indonesia where they led 2-1 after the first half before finally going down 2-4.

"Our primary problem is the players' physical shape. They spent seventy percent of their physical resources against Indonesia.

"If a soccer game was played in 45 minutes we could have won over Indonesia," he said.

Meanwhile, Vietnam will play against the Philippines without key player Nguyen Van Sy, who is ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a broken ankle.

Coach Henrique Calisto, however, was confident that the rest of his squad could overcome the Philippines and reach the semifinals.

"The target is still to qualify out of this group and right now I am not thinking about finishing first or second. I just want to win and play well," the Portuguese said.

Philippines coach Sugao Kambe was realistic about his team's chances after, saying: "Vietnam is a very cohesive side. They are mobile and quick and I think they will create many chances against us."

"Vietnam is a quality side and I have to be realistic. They are much better than the Philippines and I do expect a tough time against them," he said.