Futsal team hoping for winning start against Myanmar

SHAH ALAM: The national men’s futsal team hope to kick off their campaign in the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games (KL2017) against Myanmar with a win at the Panasonic Sports Complex here tomorrow.

National men’s futsal coach Chiew Chun Yong said starting the tournament with a win will be crucial to lift the moral of the players, especially when playing at home.

“We will take one game at a time and focus now on Myanmar. It is important to have a winning start as a host country, so we will do our best,” he told reporters here yesterday.

For the record, the national futsal squad lost to Myanmar 3-5 in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Futsal Championship final group match on Jan 25, despite advancing to the semi-finals.

Asked if the squad can repeat the silver medal feat achieved during the 2007 Korat SEA Games in Thailand, Chiew said the composition of his players were much different compared to the 2007 Korat SEA Games and that he was banking on most of his senior players.

“We are playing on home ground and have to be ready regardless of what kind of preparation we have gone through now,” he said.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s men’s futsal coach Yori van der Torren said he was looking forward to their first match against Thailand on Sunday as the republic was banned from participating in 28th Singapore SEA Games on the grounds that the government had interfered in the country’s football affairs.

He, however, admitted that it would be an uphill task to take on Thailand as the republic did not participate in any international matches from 2014 to beginning 2016 due to the ban.

Indonesia won bronze in the Men’s futsal at the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar. – Bernama