Coach Tan Cheng Hoe: 'Postponing the AFF Cup is helping Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand'

In an interview with the New Straits Times on December 8, coach Tan Cheng Hoe said: “I am sure that not only the Malaysian team but also regional teams such as Vietnam (VN), Thailand, and Indonesia (in Group G of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia) are very happy that the AFF Cup has been postponed. Because there will be time to prepare, avoid being passive and fully focus all their efforts to prove their ambitions at the World Cup arena.”

If the AFF Cup still takes place as scheduled in April and May 2021, it will be a very busy time for the Southeast Asian teams in Group G, while the strongest opponent in the group, the UAE, will be more comfortable focusing only on this arena to win the remaining matches.

Therefore, postponing the AFF Cup until the end of 2021 is also in line with the wishes of Mr. Tan Cheng Hoe and Coach Park Hang-seo, because they will be able to comfortably focus solely on the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, which will be re-started in March 2021 and completed in June 2021.

This also solves the problem of regional teams playing both the World Cup qualifiers and the AFF Cup if they compete in April and May 2021, not to mention that this is also the time when the national championships in the region take place, so it will be extremely difficult to call up players.

According to coach Tan Cheng Hoe, coach Park Hang-seo of the Vietnamese team is also happy that the AFF Cup has been postponed until the end of 2021.

Independence

Coach Tan Cheng Hoe also added: “Postponing the AFF Cup to the end of the year also avoids the controversy of playing during the fasting month of Muslims in the region (as in the case of Indonesia and Malaysia, which have a majority of Muslim players). Therefore, in my opinion, this is a very correct decision by the AFF, and has brought good news to the teams in the region. In addition, this also helps teams in Southeast Asia have more conditions to prove their value and ambition in the World Cup arena, although it is too early to set any specific goals.”

When the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia resume in March, the Vietnamese team will have a big match with Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.

Independence

In Group G of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Vietnam is leading the group with 11 points after 5 matches, including 3 wins and 2 draws. Malaysia is second with 9 points after 3 wins and 2 losses. Next is Thailand with 8 points (2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss), UAE is 4th with 6 points after 2 wins and 2 losses. Indonesia (0 points) has been eliminated.

In March 2021, in the first round, Thailand will meet Indonesia; UAE will meet Malaysia, then UAE will travel to Indonesia while Vietnam will travel to Kuala Lumpur to meet Malaysia. In June 2021, the last two rounds will take place, including UAE meeting Thailand; Vietnam will host Indonesia at home before traveling to Dubai to meet UAE while Thailand and Malaysia will compete against each other.

After completing the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Southeast Asian teams will save their energy for the end of the year to compete in the AFF Cup from December 5. However, if any team advances to the third qualifying round to compete for a ticket to the final round in Qatar, it will be extremely busy, because the AFF Cup will also be held during the third qualifying round, which will take place from September 2021 to March 2022.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-tan-cheng-hoe-lui-aff-cup-la-giup-tuyen-malaysia-vn-va-thai-lan-1851359049.htm