Vietnamese players have said they will not be lulled into complacency by the Malaysian coach’s claim Vietnam will easily beat his team in the first-leg of the Suzuki Cup semifinal in Kuala Lumpur today.
Krishnasamy Rajagobal had said earlier Vietnam will sail into the final.
“I am impressed with… his skills in controlling the match, making precise passes, and hitting dangerous free kicks,” he had said of the Vietnamese captain Minh Phuong.
Phuong shrugged off the compliment saying he is not a star and just wants to do his best for the team.
Midfielder Vu Phong is wary of the sweet talk.
“I have a feeling that Malaysia is selling us a dummy, especially with its coach paying us such compliments,” he said while thanking Rajagobal for his kind words.
He would never underestimate Malaysia, he said.
“If we show respect to the opposition, it is easy for us to achieve good results.”
“We will try our hardest to beat Malaysia,” he added when Vietnamese fans are heading for Malaysia in huge numbers to watch the match.
Another team member said: “It is not easy to conquer Malaysia’s young players. They are strong and have nothing to lose. Therefore, if we underestimate them, we will pay the price.”
Calisto is wary of a team that stole the gold medal from Vietnam at the Sea Games two years ago.
Rajagobal: We qualified from group A without some key players. Fortunately, they have fully recovered from injuries for the semifinals. We are determined to beat Vietnam 1-0 or 2-0 to take an advantage into the second-leg in My Dinh. "We will do our best for a berth in the final," he added. Calisto: “We will not play for a draw against Malaysia because it is very dangerous to play that way. They have young players who are clever at controlling the game, especially forwards Fadee and Talaha. I don’t have many choices because of the absence of four key players with injury. If we want to get a good result, we should always be in full command.” |
