Withe tips new generation for Tiger Cup glory
Withe tips new generation for Tiger Cup glory
Agence France-Presse Singapore
Thailand coach Peter Withe plans to blood new talent in his campaign to retain the Tiger Cup tournament of Southeast Asian countries.
"Yes, I'm confident. I'll probably be using a few up-and- coming players who'll be featuring in the Asian Games team (in October), and as long as they can blend with the older players, we can retain the title," the Englishman said in a press release Friday.
Withe coached the Thai team to its second Tiger Cup title two years ago in Bangkok with a 4-1 defeat of Indonesia.
The former Aston Villa star, speaking ahead of Saturday's draw in Jakarta for the tournament to be held in Indonesia and Singapore in December, said the co-hosts would present the main threats.
"I think Singapore will be a threat as they've recently included a couple of good foreign players," he said in reference to Egmar Goncalves of Brazil and Croatian Mirko Grabovac, who are now naturalized citizens of the city-state.
Egmar was confident his adoptive country would put in a strong performance at the tournament, but acknowledged Thailand was firm favorite.
"Singapore has a very good chance of making it to the last four. The teams playing at the Tiger Cup are all very good, but the team that really stand out is Thailand," Egmar said in the release by tournament organizers WorldSport.
"Indonesia and Singapore may be playing at home, but the Thai team are a very strong side. From what I understand, they've been playing together for a very long time and will be a force to be reckoned with once again," he said.
Jakarta will host the opening and final match of the Dec. 15- 29 tournament.
With the exception of Brunei, who will be absent for the second straight tournament, all the other nine countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be present.
The two co-hosts share the top seeding for the tournament ahead of Thailand and Vietnam, who reached the semifinals two years ago.