Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Yangon: Coach Gerd Zeise promised home fans that Myanmar will give their all in the AFC U-19 Championship quarter-final against the United Arab Emirates on Friday, with the German calling it the host's "biggest game for maybe a century."
Myanmar scraped through to the quarter-finals as runners-up on goal difference after an emphatic 3-0 victory over Group A winners Thailand was sandwiched between a goalless opening draw with Yemen and a 2-0 loss to pre-tournament group favourites Iran.
And despite scoring the joint fewest goals in the tournament during the group stages, the White Angels are now just one game away from their first semi-final berth in the competition since 1971.
In addition, the team that does come out on top will also advance to the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. The prospect would be a first in the history of Myanmar, but Zeise expects this to be a tall order based on former champions United Arab Emirates tournament record so far.
"I watched the UAE in the group stage and I was impressed by how they work, Myanmar will have to go into the match and fight for their life," said Ziese.
"This could be Myanmar's biggest game for the next 20 years, maybe for a century."
"It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our players to go to a World Cup and now that possibility is very close, a lot of my work with the team will be mental, preparing them to be ready for the challenge."
Myanmar will make one change to the line-up that faced Iran, but there was praise for the Myanmar medical staff's "golden fingers" for keeping a squad fit that Zeise says is lacking quality in depth.
"Nan Wai Min is injured, but even if he were not, he would not be playing as I was not satisfied with his performance the other day. There were other injuries after the last game but once again the doctor and physio have done a great job. My other players are not ready for this level," he added.
The United Arab Emirates pulled off an impressive 4-1 victory over Indonesia in Matchday Three to win Group B, having played out a 1-1 draw with Australia in their opening game before keeping their hopes of qualification alive with a last gasp equaliser in a 2-2 draw with fellow quarter-finalists Uzbekistan.
Teams that the UAE faced in the group stage, especially Australia, spoke of the difficulty of playing against a team that are strong on the counter-attack, but coach Abdulla Ahmed Mesfer warned that his side would be a tactically versatile prospect in the knockout stages.
"That was the group stage; the approach is very different to a knockout match where tactics change because of the required outcome. With every game you choose tactics that are appropriate to your opponent and the situation," said Mesfer, who is seeking to lead UAE to the semi-finals and with it FIFA U-20 World Cup qualification for the first time since 2009 when they reached the quarter-finals.
"One of the most difficult things to face is our recovery, we only have two days to rest, and one of those was spent travelling from Nay Pyi Taw. Only having 24 hours to recover is the main problem we will face; our opponents have had three days."
"We do not fear the crowd though, we look forward to playing in front of spectators, and the chance to play against Myanmar in front of a packed crowd is what we've been waiting for."