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| Sundramoorthy, Dooley, Zico and Riedl gave similar thoughts before the Suzuki Cup kicks off tomorrow. (Kevin Estrada) |
PASIG--The coaches of the Group A sides expect no less than pure excitement during the first press conference of the AFF Championship on Friday at the Marco Polo Ortigas.
Converging for the fist time, Singapore's V. Sundramoorthy, Indonesia's Alfred Riedl, Thailand's Kiatisuk Senamuang and the Philippines' Thomas Dooley shared thoughts on both their opening statements and open forums before they kick off the 11th edition of the tournament on Saturday in Bocaue.
"Maybe I think we'll try our best and hopefully we'll advance along with the ASEAN teams," said the former police lieutenant who won the AFF title both as a player and as manager, thru his translator.
For the former Tampines tactician, he said that he's glad to visit the country again, this time in a larger coaching capacity.
"It's nice to see you again, It's about us and 90 minutes on the pitch," said Sundramoorthy, who on his second stint as the Lions gaffer.
"The preparation is always normal, but what's not normal is because I was only allowed to take only two players from each club," said the Austrian, who is in his third Suzuki Cup for the Garudas, six years after coming close to win it all.
"I'm obviously very excited for this big tournament. So hopefully we have nice weeks in all of us. We want to make Philippines happy," the World Cup veteran for the US said, noting that this will be the first time the country has hosted the group stages.
After all the talk, the coaches locked together in solidarity, signifying the friendly intent of the presser before the tournament kicks off.
Converging for the fist time, Singapore's V. Sundramoorthy, Indonesia's Alfred Riedl, Thailand's Kiatisuk Senamuang and the Philippines' Thomas Dooley shared thoughts on both their opening statements and open forums before they kick off the 11th edition of the tournament on Saturday in Bocaue.
"Maybe I think we'll try our best and hopefully we'll advance along with the ASEAN teams," said the former police lieutenant who won the AFF title both as a player and as manager, thru his translator.
For the former Tampines tactician, he said that he's glad to visit the country again, this time in a larger coaching capacity.
"It's nice to see you again, It's about us and 90 minutes on the pitch," said Sundramoorthy, who on his second stint as the Lions gaffer.
"The preparation is always normal, but what's not normal is because I was only allowed to take only two players from each club," said the Austrian, who is in his third Suzuki Cup for the Garudas, six years after coming close to win it all.
"I'm obviously very excited for this big tournament. So hopefully we have nice weeks in all of us. We want to make Philippines happy," the World Cup veteran for the US said, noting that this will be the first time the country has hosted the group stages.
After all the talk, the coaches locked together in solidarity, signifying the friendly intent of the presser before the tournament kicks off.
Saturday's opening matchday sees the reigning champs take on the four-time bridesmaids in the afternoon, followed by the clash between the hosts and the four-time titlists at 8 p.m.
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