Courtesy: The Star On line


Hosts the ones to beat for futsal titles

ASEAN champions Thailand will be the favourites to bag both the futsal gold medals in Bangkok.

Malaysian national coach P. Balakrishnan said the Thais are a cut above the rest and would be a tough nut to crack in front of their home fans.

“It will be tough for any team in the SEA Games to break the Thai stranglehold in the sport,” said Balakrishnan, who expects the men’s team to enter the semi-finals.

The men’s team have been drawn in Group A with Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines while Vietnam, Indonesia and Laos are in Group B.

Balakrishnan said the Philippines, with four naturalised players from Iran in their squad, will also be hard to beat, even though Malaysia have defeated them twice in competitions this year.

“We have to remember that Iran are the powerhouse in Asian futsal. Unless we get past the Philippines it will be tough to think of a medal,” said Balakrishnan.

Malaysia have a balanced set of players led by seasoned campaigners Addie Azwan Zainal, Mohd Firdaus Razali and Jamhuri Zainuddin but the only setback is the absence of skipper Mohd Shaiful Mohd Noor due to injury.

Team manager Hamidin Mohd Amin said he expects at least two medals.

“It can be of any colour,” he said.

He said the national team would also be preparing for the forthcoming KL World 5 futsal championship scheduled at the Stadium Negara January next year.



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