Myanmar coach: ‘I’m just afraid of the referee’

“To evaluate the strongest team in the tournament, I think it is Vietnam,” coach Popov shared at the press conference after the match at Viet Tri Stadium. “I am not impressed with any specific player, but impressed with the collective football of this team. In my opinion, Vietnam can win every match and advance to the final.”

The defensive style of Myanmar with a large number of people made it difficult for Vietnam, before Do Hung Dung put his heart in the far corner of the city single table minutes 76. This result put Vietnam at the top of the table with seven points, one point ahead of Indonesia and Myanmar.

In the last match, Vietnam only needs to draw with Timor Leste to continue, while Myanmar has to fight to compete for the semi-final ticket with Indonesia. “Indonesia is a strong team, we have to give our best,” said Coach Popov. “Myanmar needs to win this match to reach the semi-finals of the SEA Games and it’s been a great experience for our players. I’m not afraid of any opponent, but afraid of the referee. Of course I have many dissatisfactions, but I can’t say directly because I will be penalized. You can watch the match against the Philippines, every time we attack they are caught offside. Against Vietnam, they also blew us too many errors.” .

The coach of Myanmar is impressed with the collective play of Vietnam

Despite losing, Coach Popov was still satisfied with the performance of his students, especially after two years of not having many opportunities to play because of Covid-19. The Bulgarian strategist added: “The whole game, we only made two mistakes. One of them was left at the end of the game and the whole team had to pay the price. We changed our tactics to adapt to the attacking style of play. We didn’t give them many opportunities. Vietnamese players have better physical strength, but we also tried our best.”

Lam Tho