Vietnam Young Star Admits Indonesia As A Difficult Opponent in the 2018 AFF Cup

DBasia.news – The 2018 AFF Cup will be conducted from November 8 until December 15. One of the top teams, Vietnam, are in the Group A with Malaysia, Myanmar, Kamboja, and Laos.

Ahead of the match, Vietnam young player, Nguyen Quang Hai, mentioned two teams that are difficult. Besides Thailand, he mentioned Indonesia as the challenge of his squad.

He told that ahead of the match. Meanwhile, Thailand and Indonesia national team are in the Group B with Philippines, Singapore, and Timor Leste.

The Vietnam national team will meet Thailand and Indonesia in the semifinal or final if Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia qualify for the group phase.

“I think there is no big distance among the teams. Certainly, Indonesia and Thailand are the difficult opponents. But we will try our best and have great motivation to do that,” said the 21-year-old midfielder.

 

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Thailand and Indonesia national team would be similar to the 2016 cup. Both went to the final round.

Thailand national team went to the final round before becoming the winner of 2016 after defeating Myanmar. Meanwhile, Indonesia got a painful defeat against Vietnam.

Nguyen Quang Hai also believed Thailand’s power won’t decrease. This is related to the absence of their four important players in the 2018 AFF Cup.

The four players are Chanathip Songkrasin, Teerasil Dangda, Theerathon Bunmathan, and Kawin Thamsatchanan. Chanathip Songkrasin, Teerasil Dangda, and Theerathon Bunmathan are in the Japan League, each supports the J1 League clubs Consadole Sapporo, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, and Vissel Kobe. Meanwhile, the goalkeeper Kawin Thamsatchanan supports Belgian club, OH Leuven.

They won’t be involved due to the complicated registration considering 2018 AFF Cup isn’t included as FIFA official agenda.

“Thailand have many great players. I won’t worry about them, our focus will be on the squad. The key is to have the great mentality and tactical approach. We also ready physically to play in the highest level,” he added quoted from AFF Suzuki Cup’s official website.