Thai coach: 'We did not come to Vietnam to pray for peace'

* Vietnam - Thailand: 19:30 Friday, January 13, on MetaSports.

"We need good results, but what is a good result? A draw is good but a win is better," coach Polking said in a press conference on the morning of January 12. "It's important that we keep our hopes up for the return leg. We're not here to draw. We want to score. There's the away goal rule, so it would be good if we score in My Dinh."

The Brazilian-German leader expects the two finals to be beautiful, because this is a confrontation between Vietnam - the best defensive team and the second best attack, and Thailand - the team that owns the best attack and Second best defense from the start of the tournament.

In the last encounter at the national team level - AFF Cup semi-finals, Thailand won 2-0 in the first leg and drew 0-0 in the second leg. But according to Polking, compared to then, both now have many changes. "Vietnam has two months of training together, with enough important players," he said. "Thailand is not so lucky, lacks the players we want, although there are still quality personnel to replace. Therefore, Vietnam has more chances to win, but we will fight."

The Thai coach also highly appreciates the host for his fitness, pressure play, and good ball control. "Vietnam defended well, never lost a goal, played at home again," he added. "They have more than a day off, do not have to fly, so of course they have an advantage."

In the group stage, Thailand was undefeated - won three, drew one - to top Group A. In the semi-finals, through both rounds, they played overwhelmingly, but because of the ineffective finishing, they lost 0-1. on the Malaysian field. Returning home to Thammasat, the defending champions have significantly improved their finishing, scoring three goals from seven shots on goal to win 3-0, and reach the final with a 3-1 aggregate scoreline.

Compared to the host Vietnam, Thailand has a slight disadvantage when it takes less than a day off and has to move to kick the first leg away. Polking's teachers and students have been present in Hanoi since the evening of January 11, and will only practice one session at My Dinh yard tonight.

According to the 47-year-old coach, the surface of My Dinh field is not bad, but he will check it again in tonight's training session. "I said, I will check the field again. At the 31st SEA Games, the surface of My Dinh field is not green, not beautiful, but good enough, can play football. This afternoon, we practice and will have an accurate look. I don't believe that the pitch can affect a player's expertise, to have a good game tomorrow," he said.

Thailand has five players who received yellow cards in the semi-finals: Pansa Hemviboon, Suphanan Bureerat, Sarach Yooyen, Ekanit Panya and Weerathep Pomphan. If they receive more yellow cards in the first leg final, they will not be able to play the second leg. "We know the rules and won't make a mistake to get a card," he said. "But on the pitch, it's impossible to predict, they have to try to concentrate to have a good game. And if they are unlucky, get a yellow card, the next game can't play, then we will also have players. instead of, replace".

Polking also pointed out that Vietnam has a similar problem, with four players at risk of being suspended in the second leg final because of a penalty card, including Doan Van Hau, Do Hung Dung, Bui Tien Dung and Vu Van Thanh. But he didn't know if they would play.

Coach Polking has spent the past 10 years leading Thai clubs and national teams. He also worked at Ho Chi Minh City Club in the period of 2020-2021. From his experience in Vietnam, he said that he "likes the fighting spirit of Vietnamese players".

Statistics on the AFF Cup 2022 homepage have 16 parameters, of which Thailand leads in the categories of goals scored (16), goal/match performance (2.67 goals), passes (3,480), billion standard pass rate (87%), number of shots (128), shots on target (45), corners awarded (40) and number of penalties (3). Mano Polking's army is better than the opponent in most attack stats.