Withe tips new generation for Tiger Cup glory

Sat, 03 Aug 2002, 00:00 WIB | Source: AFP

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.

View JSON | Print