By Steve Darby
There used to be a time when the Asean Football Championship, now commonly known as the AFF Suzuki Cup was a battle between a few big teams and often how many goals scored against the minnows became an important feature.
Well, I think those days have gone! In the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010, I don't think there will be an easy group and I don't think there will be any massive scores. There are two reasons for this. Firstly the quality of the two teams who came through the qualification stage, Laos and the Philippines. They have very different styles though both teams are coached by Englishmen in David Booth and Simon McMenemy. So much for the cliché that there is an English style of coaching!
The Philippines were the biggest surprise to me when I watched them. Basically, they had done their homework and found many players playing professional abroad who were qualified to turn out for the national team. This included a goalkeeper Neil Etheridge with English Premier League experience with Fulham and a very skilful Holland-based playmaker in Jason de Jong. They are also a massive team and will cause problems with their well-rehearsed set pieces, which maximises their height potential.
Of course, Laos were not of the same physical stature but they played excellent football with quick interpassing. Kanlaya Sysomvang looks a great playmaker and Laos star Lamnao Singto showed he still has great abiliy and if he gets in top physical shape he can cause problems. Also, young right-back Kovanh Namthavixay showed great potential.
Even the team that just missed out on qualification, Cambodia, had two exciting forwards in Khim Borey and Khoun Laboravy with a strong keeper Ouk Mic.
The second reason for the belief that the groups will be tight is that the smaller nations are now preparing far more professionally. Also leagues such as the Myanmar league have created a bigger talent pool for their nation. The quality of preparation is making the gap smaller now between the so-called giants and smaller nations. The concept of stronger leagues is however a two-edged sword in that there are now greater demands on the bigger nations such as Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam by the professional clubs within these leagues. These nations whilst having strong leagues are perhaps not preparing as a national team to the extent they used to in the past as the league demands are so great.
A problem, of course, which may occur even more in the future is when South-East Asian players travel abroad to play and it is difficult to get them back for non-FIFA dates such as the AFF Suzuki Cup. A classic example of this is Surat Sukha of Thailand who is only appearing out of the good will of Melbourne Victory and if Le Cong Vinh had been fit and stayed in Portugal he may well have had a similar problem. A great sign of player development in South-East Asia but potential difficulties arising for Football Associations.
The AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 will be a tight affair and the key to success may well be the fitness and health of key players for each team. Let's be honest, Thailand would be weaker without Teerasil Dangda, Indonesia without Bambang Pamungkas, Vietnam without Le Cong Vinh and Singapore without Lionel Lewis. So the nations now will be hoping that they can all get their first choice squads to the tournament although Malaysia have already lost key players to injury.
The MVP's in a couple of recent tournaments have been goalkeepers, Duong Hong Son of Vietnam (2008) and Lionel Lewis of Singapore (2004). I believe once again that a top-class 'keeper may well decide the outcome of the cup. Add to the two keepers mentioned, Etheridge of Phillipines, Markus Horison of Indonesia and Kawin Thamasatchanan of Thailand and there will be some great shot-stoppers on display. Strikers are hard to find and if one of them can get five goals in this tournament he may well be on the winning team.
All the teams will be well prepared as there are some excellent coaches involved with the AFF Suzuki Cup teams. Old hands such as Raddy Avramovic (Singapore), Henrique Calisto (Vietnam), Booth (Laos), and Alfred Riedl (Indonesia) and K. Rajagopal (Malaysia) will be pitting their technical wits against new coaches to Asia such as McMenemy (Philippines) and Bryan Robson (Thailand). I know Peter Reid at the AFF Suzuki Cup 2008 was amazed at the quality of the games and individual players and felt that South-East Asian players were highly under rated. I believe this will be an even better AFF Suzuki Cup than two years ago with tight games in front of initially massive crowds in Jakarta and Hanoi.
Football fans in South East-Asia are in for a great December.
(Steve Darby has coaching experience in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand at club and national level and is currently technical director of the Football Association of Thailand).
Well, I think those days have gone! In the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010, I don't think there will be an easy group and I don't think there will be any massive scores. There are two reasons for this. Firstly the quality of the two teams who came through the qualification stage, Laos and the Philippines. They have very different styles though both teams are coached by Englishmen in David Booth and Simon McMenemy. So much for the cliché that there is an English style of coaching!
The Philippines were the biggest surprise to me when I watched them. Basically, they had done their homework and found many players playing professional abroad who were qualified to turn out for the national team. This included a goalkeeper Neil Etheridge with English Premier League experience with Fulham and a very skilful Holland-based playmaker in Jason de Jong. They are also a massive team and will cause problems with their well-rehearsed set pieces, which maximises their height potential.
Of course, Laos were not of the same physical stature but they played excellent football with quick interpassing. Kanlaya Sysomvang looks a great playmaker and Laos star Lamnao Singto showed he still has great abiliy and if he gets in top physical shape he can cause problems. Also, young right-back Kovanh Namthavixay showed great potential.
Even the team that just missed out on qualification, Cambodia, had two exciting forwards in Khim Borey and Khoun Laboravy with a strong keeper Ouk Mic.
The second reason for the belief that the groups will be tight is that the smaller nations are now preparing far more professionally. Also leagues such as the Myanmar league have created a bigger talent pool for their nation. The quality of preparation is making the gap smaller now between the so-called giants and smaller nations. The concept of stronger leagues is however a two-edged sword in that there are now greater demands on the bigger nations such as Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam by the professional clubs within these leagues. These nations whilst having strong leagues are perhaps not preparing as a national team to the extent they used to in the past as the league demands are so great.
A problem, of course, which may occur even more in the future is when South-East Asian players travel abroad to play and it is difficult to get them back for non-FIFA dates such as the AFF Suzuki Cup. A classic example of this is Surat Sukha of Thailand who is only appearing out of the good will of Melbourne Victory and if Le Cong Vinh had been fit and stayed in Portugal he may well have had a similar problem. A great sign of player development in South-East Asia but potential difficulties arising for Football Associations.
The AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 will be a tight affair and the key to success may well be the fitness and health of key players for each team. Let's be honest, Thailand would be weaker without Teerasil Dangda, Indonesia without Bambang Pamungkas, Vietnam without Le Cong Vinh and Singapore without Lionel Lewis. So the nations now will be hoping that they can all get their first choice squads to the tournament although Malaysia have already lost key players to injury.
The MVP's in a couple of recent tournaments have been goalkeepers, Duong Hong Son of Vietnam (2008) and Lionel Lewis of Singapore (2004). I believe once again that a top-class 'keeper may well decide the outcome of the cup. Add to the two keepers mentioned, Etheridge of Phillipines, Markus Horison of Indonesia and Kawin Thamasatchanan of Thailand and there will be some great shot-stoppers on display. Strikers are hard to find and if one of them can get five goals in this tournament he may well be on the winning team.
All the teams will be well prepared as there are some excellent coaches involved with the AFF Suzuki Cup teams. Old hands such as Raddy Avramovic (Singapore), Henrique Calisto (Vietnam), Booth (Laos), and Alfred Riedl (Indonesia) and K. Rajagopal (Malaysia) will be pitting their technical wits against new coaches to Asia such as McMenemy (Philippines) and Bryan Robson (Thailand). I know Peter Reid at the AFF Suzuki Cup 2008 was amazed at the quality of the games and individual players and felt that South-East Asian players were highly under rated. I believe this will be an even better AFF Suzuki Cup than two years ago with tight games in front of initially massive crowds in Jakarta and Hanoi.
Football fans in South East-Asia are in for a great December.
(Steve Darby has coaching experience in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand at club and national level and is currently technical director of the Football Association of Thailand).
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