Tabriz: It will be an all-Southeast Asian affair when Indonesia and Vietnam they meet in the AFC U-20 Futsal Championship IR Iran 2019 quarter-finals at the Pour Sharifi Stadium on Tuesday.
There is a lot of history between the two teams with regular meetings in Southeast Asian tournaments.
Two years ago, the two teams were drawn in the same group of the AFC U-20 Futsal Championship, where they settled for a 1-1 draw, but the inaugural edition was a bitter memory for the Vietnamese side as they missed out on the knockout stage.
The tug-of-war continued in the ASEAN Zone Qualifiers last December as Vietnam bounced back from a goal down to salvage a 3-3 draw with Indonesia.
Vietnam head coach Truong Quoc Tuan claimed that the experience gained from facing each other frequently isn’t an edge or a disadvantage, saying: “We have met Indonesia many times, in the previous edition and in the Qualifiers, and that’s both an advantage and a disadvantage.”
The two teams will kick off the quarter-final action at 1100 hours (local time), but Vietnam will be coming into the tie having already made history, as they make their first appearance in the last eight.
Vietnam beat Tajikistan in their group opener to seal their place in the knockout stage, but suffered a 2-1 defeat against Japan to finish as Group C runners-up.
“I think Vietnam were in a tough group and we qualified with a little bit of luck.
“We came here with really young players, and every match, as I said before, is an experience for the young players. With a little more rest before the quarter-finals, I hope my players will play better.”
Indonesia, meanwhile, made a huge statement by beating 2017 runners-up Iraq 2-1 to finish as Group D winners, and head coach Sayan Karmadi is hoping to continue their winning trend.
“The last match was really hard for us because it was against Iraq,” said Karmadi.
“We haven’t gotten much rest but I’m glad that we are the group winners and hope that we will do our best, and I hope that the result will further boost the development of futsal in Indonesia.”
Karmadi, however, is maintaining a cautious approach against Vietnam, having seen tremendous improvement in them.
“This will be a hard match for sure, and every team will bring everything they have on the big stage. Vietnam have improved since their qualification.”
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com