AFF Suzuki Cup: Myanmar vs Vietnam Preview

Posted Monday, November 21, 2016 by Foxsports.com

AFF Suzuki Cup: Myanmar vs Vietnam Preview
The banks of empty seats in Manila for the tournament opener certainly weren’t the best look for organisers of the AFF Suzuki Cup but there are no fears that those scenes will be repeated when co-host Myanmar gets their side of the group stage underway on Sunday.

With tickets going for between $3-5 demand has been strong from football fans in Yangon and beyond and a huge crowd is expected to cram into the Thuwunna Stadium to witness the under-pressure hosts take on dark horses Vietnam.

Those same fans were the cause of much consternation for coach Gerd Zeise as his team was swept aside 3-0 by an understrength Omani outfit earlier this week in the hosts final pre-tournament hitout where a chorus of boos was heard throughout the loss.

Indeed, so unsettling was the backdrop that the German mentor took the unusual step of imploring the fans for greater respect, telling FOX Sports Asia that the nation needs to ‘unite.’

“Unfortunately that’s the way that some spectators chose to react but that’s not good for the team.

“We have a young group of players and if the supporters react in that way it will affect performances so it’s better to be behind the team and support them.”

The loss to Oman continued a worrying run of results where the team has only tasted victory once in their previous seven ‘official’ matches and where, even with the competing interest of top-flight domestic football from abroad, there remains a strong level of scrutiny on and passion around the showings of the national side.

Zeise, who rose to prominence as the mastermind of the Under-20 team that reached last year’s FIFA World Cup, also lashed out at elements within his own country that he blamed for not organizing an adequate final preparation for the team, saying that he didn’t want to face Oman.

“Facing a strong nation like that is not the ideal buildup and for six months I’d been trying to arrange the right matches but now we have lost our rhythm and we need to adjust.”

That cause was hardly helped when Zeise himself took the unexpected and dramatic step of axing star forward Kyaw Ko Ko just a month out from the event, arguing that he wasn’t the right fit for the team culture the coach was trying to nurture, but regardless that’s left a huge hole in the Myanmar front line with no clear candidate to step up and score the goals they’ll need to reach the last four.

However, with Cambodia having to progress through the qualifiers and Malaysia too having a mixed buildup there’s a sense that the group is wide open and whilst the other coaches in the section were keen to play up the home advantage for the White Angels, Zeise didn’t necessarily see things the same way.

“It’s expected but the pressure is very high and our minimum target is to survive the group and go to the semifinal.

“It means a lot for the country, yes, and you are totally under pressure and you cannot disappoint the people.

“People always ask me if I can guarantee that we will go to the next round but how I can guarantee that?

“All I can guarantee is that we give all for the country and that you will see.”

That starts tomorrow against a Vietnamese team that are the most in-form outfit anywhere in the region and who will no doubt enter as favourites to get off to a flying start – it’s all then to play for, for the under-fire Zeise and his team of youthful stars.