Courtesy: The AFC.com


A positive experience says Pereira

11 June 2009

HO CHI MINH CITY – Timor Leste head coach Eduardo Pereira leaves Vietnam in a hopeful mood even though their first foray into competitive Futsal ended with a 21-1 defeat to the 2009 AFF Futsal Championship hosts.

Wednesday’s defeat to the Vietnamese came a day after they lost 10-2 to the Philippines on their international Futsal debut but Pereira remained upbeat about the future of the game in the fledgling ASEAN nation, which only became officially recognised as an independent country in 2002.

“We tried hard but this was our first international tournament,” Pereira told the AFF’s (ASEAN Football Federation’s official website.

“It has given us the exposure and even though we suffered a thrashing, still it was a good experience for the future.”

Pereira also drew positives from Timor Leste’s debut Futsal fixture against the Philippines, particularly after Jose Vong scored the country’s historic first goal nine minutes in to the match before adding his second 11 minutes later.

“It was our first competitive match at the international level. So it was not too bad. At the very least, we managed to score two goals.”

The Philippines, runners-up in Group B, will play Group A winners Thailand in Friday’s semi-final ahead of the hosts last four clash with Indonesia.








Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com