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Coach Polking: 'Vietnam has more advantages than Thailand'

Published:2023-01-13 By Hiếu Lương(MetaSports) Comments
Thailand According to Coach Mano Polking, Thailand suffered many disadvantages when entering the final of the AFF Cup 2022 against Vietnam.

In the AFF Cup 2020, Polking led Thailand to defeat Vietnam 2-0 after two semi-finals, before defeating Indonesia to win the championship. But the tournament that time was played in Singapore due to the influence of Covid-19. At the AFF Cup 2022, the teams return to play in the home-away format. Therefore, the Thai head coach assessed that "Vietnam has more advantages in many aspects".

"Vietnam gets one more day off than us," Polking said at a press conference after defeating Malaysia in the second leg semi-final on January 10. "Today, they rested completely at the hotel. Next, they were kicked at home in the first leg final, so we were at a disadvantage."

However, the head coach of the Thai team insisted that if he had to choose, he still wanted the situation as it is now because at least he could play in the final.

Polking's immediate goal is to help the players recover physically before being present in Hanoi on the evening of January 11. They will practice at My Dinh Stadium for a session, before playing the host game on Friday, January 13. Three days later, the second leg will take place at Thammasat Stadium.

In the semi-final first leg, Thailand squandered many opportunities and lost 0-1 in Malaysia. But at home at Thammasat in the second leg, Polking's army took advantage of the opportunity better, scoring three goals thanks to Teerasil Dangda, Bordin Phala and Adisak Kraisorn, to win 3-0.

According to Polking, before the match he told the players to quickly open the scoring, and Thailand did this with Teerasil's header in the 19th minute. "We have a clear plan, we have to focus. , discipline and not concede first," said the Brazilian-German coach. "I know that with the level of the team, we will create chances and score goals, then focus on scoring more goals."

Through 14 AFF Cups, Thailand has reached the final 10 times. They have won six times in 1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016 and 2020, three times in second place in 2007, 2008 and 2012. This is the second time Thailand has played Vietnam in the final, after the first time in the year. 2008. At that time, Vietnam won 2-1 at Rajamangala Stadium before drawing 1-1 at My Dinh to win the championship for the first time. In 28 confrontations, Thailand still dominated with 16 wins, 9 draws and 3 losses.

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