New Champions To Rise In Under-21 Championship
By Alex How

Bandar Seri Begawan - There will be a new champion in the ongoing Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy for Under-21 Asean Youth Football Championship 2005 after defending champions Indonesia were sent home early after losing to Thailand in their last crucial group match.

Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are all set to be the new champions when they clash in the semifinals today at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.

Group ‘A’ leader Thailand will take on Group B runners-up Laos in the first semifinal at 4pm while Group B leader Myanmar will square off with Vietnam in the second semifinal at 8pm.

Thailand, the 2002 losing finalist, booked a place in the semifinals after three wins and a draw. They beat Indonesia 2-1, 1-0 against Vietnam, goalless draw against the Philippines and a 4-0 win against Malaysia. Laos squeezed into the semifinals after two wins and one loss, 2-1 wins over Singapore and Myanmar and losing 1-0 to Brunei Darussalam.

Myanmar was the first team to qualify for the semifinals. They whipped Singapore 6-0 and also Brunei by the same margin but lost to Laos 2-1. Group ‘A’ runners-up Vietnam qualified for the semifinals after beating Philippines 3-0, Malaysia 2-1, draw against Indonesia 0-0 and losing to Thailand 1-0.

Thailand will definitely put on their best performance when they take on Laos and would likely stick with their 4-4-2 formation playing Preecha Chaokla and Olan Limsamphansanti in attack.

The player to look out for is Preecha Chaokla who leads the top scorer table with four goals.

Thailand central defenders Prat Samakkrat and Kiatprawut Saiwaeo are dependable and they would allow pacey left back

Natthaphong Samana to move forward helping in attack. Laos had shown great fighting spirits in the run-up to the semifinals and they might field an extra midfielder in Sounthalay Xaysongkham, who can join in the attack with striker Visay Phaphouvanin.

Laos' defenders Kaysone Soukhavong and Bounphone Khensisana are also potential threat as they are capable of sending quality crosses to their strikers.

Vietnam will have to contend with the dangerous strike force of Myanmar's Sun Day Thien, Mar La and Yang Paing who had knocked in 13 goals thus far.

Vietnam will definitely be boosted by their win over Malaysia and are confident of beating Myanmar.

Their hit-men Pham Thanh Nguyen and Tran Van Duong are likely to start upfront and coach Tran Loan Dung will have the option of playing their third striker Luc Hong Quan. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Click Here To Have Your Say On This Story

Brudirect.com News