Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Vientiane: Coach Darren Stewart insists the Maldives will not underestimate Laos despite heading into Tuesday’s 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying play-off second leg in possession of a commanding 4-0 advantage.
A brace from Ali Ashfaq and goals from Ali Fasir and Hussain Niyaz earned the Maldives victory at the start of last month in Male.
But with a place in the final round of qualifiers for the 2019 tournament in the United Arab Emirates at stake, Stewart is keen for the Maldives to build on back-to-back wins having also beaten Bangladesh in a friendly last month prior to the win over Laos.
“We're in a good place right now, the boys have high confidence towards this game, team spirit is very high among all of us,” said Stewart, who was appointed after the Maldives lost to Yemen in the previous round of qualifiers.
“We will never underestimate Laos even though we beat them 4-0, underestimating our opponent will not be in our minds.
“The differences between both teams in the last game was the second half, we dominated and controlled the game for the last 45 minutes. The first half was tough for us, luckily we scored an early goal.
“Football in Maldives has been growing fast for the last few years. Team spirit is the key factor, they never give up during the game. When a boy makes a mistake, the others will come and cheer him up.”
Last month’s loss was a fourth consecutive defeat for Laos, although the home side will take heart from only losing 1-0 to India at the National Stadium in the previous round.
“The league is nearly finished, it's a crucial time for big clubs here where our national team players play, therefore, we have had limited time for training, a maximum of five days,” said Laos coach Valakone Phomphakdy, who saw his side lose the return fixture in India 6-1 for a 7-1 aggregate defeat.
“In the first game, we lost an early goal, forcing us to attack and that opened up space for the Maldives to make counterattacks in the second half.
“The players are ready for the game even though we are four goals behind, but we will do our best when playing at home, we have to show the fans we're fighting at our full effort.
“Of course we will attack from the first minute, trying to open the scoring and make it one by one.”