Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Tashkent: Thailand coach Victor Hermans called for caution ahead of his side’s Group C opener against Tajikistan in the AFC Futsal Championship on Thursday.
The two-time runners-up start the tie at Universal Stadium as strong favourites to advance to the quarter-finals as group winners after qualifying for the continental competition with a perfect record of four wins from four in the ASEAN Zone.
And with the tournament’s top five teams also gaining qualification for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia later this year, Hermans will be looking to get off to a positive start.
“Every game begins 0-0, whether it’s against the big teams or another team so, you never know, Tajikistan can beat Thailand,” said Dutchman Hermans.
“We didn’t have the best preparation this year; we haven’t had many friendlies and we couldn’t arrive here as early as I would have liked.
“But we hope we can play to the best of our ability, and we want to reach the quarter-finals then qualify for the World Cup.”
Tajikistan coach Husein Shodiev, meanwhile, takes his team into their seventh successive AFC Futsal Championship and looking to emulate the 2007 side that reached the last eight.
But after propping up their group two years ago in Vietnam, suffering three defeats on the bounce, the Central Asians will need to put on a much improved performance if they are to have any chance of progressing past the first round.
“We have come here with a very strong squad, but we have already seen in the qualifying matches they are capable of playing in big games,” said Shodiev, whose side came runners-up to Kyrgyzstan in the Central Zone qualification group.
“We respect Thailand but we will not surrender to the big teams. We will play against the best team in Southeast Asia, who will be challenging for the title, but our goal is to qualify for the knockout stage and I expect my squad to play well.”
Also at the Universal Stadium, Thursday’s other Group C encounter sees Vietnam take on Chinese Taipei with both teams looking to advance to only their second ever quarter-finals.
“Every year the championship improves a lot, but we have prepared well and are aiming to get to the knockout phase,” said Vietnam’s Spanish coach Bruno Formoso, whose side reached the last eight as hosts two years ago.
“It will be a very tough game for us because they have a good team with good players, but we will try to optimise our resources in the best way we can.”
Chinese Taipei are taking part in their 11th continental tournament, but have failed to get beyond the first round since 2004, and last time out finished third in a group that also featured Thailand.
“We have many young players who want to play in high quality tournaments such as this and fight for their country,” said coach Chen Yung-sheng.
“Vietnam have made great achievements in the last two years so it will be a tough match. The first game is crucial and we need to get off to a good start as we want to get to the quarter-finals.”
Photo: AFC