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| AFC Challenge Cup |
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| Falopa focussed on finishing third |
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| Myanmar coach Marcos Falopa insists Myanmar are fully motivated in finishing third. |
NEW DELHI – Myanmar coach Marcos Falopa insists his players will be fully motivated for their match against a severely depleted DPR Korean side in the third-place play-off of the AFC Challenge Cup on Wednesday.
"We have exceeded expectations because we were never expected to go far in this tournament," said the Brazilian, whose side lost 1-0 to hosts India in their semi-final clash last Thursday.
"We now have the motivation to finish third at least. We will try to play well although it's generally not nice to be playing for third place.
"But I guess it is nice because we have another opportunity to play against a strong team and a team ranked much higher than us.
"It is my experience with many previous tournaments and teams in the past where we had absolutely no motivation to play a third-place play-off match.
"But, in this case, we have the motivation because we are looking to improve and develop."
Falopa, however, expects the encounter to be one of attrition rather than style.
"It will be interesting but don't expect nice football. The players are all mentally tired," he added.
DPR Korea will go into the match without the services of central midfielder Choe Myong-ho and defender Pak Nam-chol at the Ambedkar Stadium after both received red cards during their semi-final defeat to defending champions Tajikistan.
The Koreans lost 1-0 and finished the game with only nine players on the pitch after Japanese referee Masaaki Iemoto sent off the pair in the dying minutes of the clash.
Choe was later hit with a six-match suspension for spitting at Tajikistan's Tukhtasunov Davrondzhon, while Pak was banned for one match for violent conduct.
The defeat to Tajikistan was also the first time the Korean defence had been breached throughout the entire tournament and having already beaten Myanmar in the group stage, head coach Jo Tong-sop is hoping they can end their campaign on a high note.
"It was disappointing to go out of the tournament with the first goal that we conceded," he said.
"But we will try our best in the play-off match against Myanmar. We will try not to lose."
However, Jo did concede his side were feeling the effects of their exertions of the last fortnight.
"The players are tired because of the bad condition of the pitch and the heavy rain during the semi-final in Hyderabad,” he added.
"We have been working on their physical condition as well as trying to keep team spirit high. We have been working hard.
"The absence of Choe and Pak will affect the team but these are professional players and we have to concentrate on those who are eligible to play."
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