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Lao team football manager Viphet Sihachackr has promised fans an exciting competition in the SEA Games, with the Lao team up against the second and third place winners from the last games.

It was revealed yesterday that Laos will compete against Myanmar , Singapore and Indonesia in group B of the men's football.

“ Myanmar was the runner-up while Singapore won third place in men's football in the 24th SEA Games in Thailand 2007. This year we will face them but I believe our footballers are better than during the previous games, so we will try our best to do well in this competitive round,” he said.

Mr Viphet said since the Lao U-23 squad has been training with an experienced coach from Austria since July, the team has improved and played in many matches.

“The team has played 11 matches since they have been training with this coach. They drew or won most of those matches including the 4-Nations Football Tournament, other friendly matches and last Sunday's match in Cambodia . There the team drew against a strong Vietnamese team, Vissai Ninhbin, at the Cambodia International Football Tournament BIDC Cup 2009 in Phnom Penh . This has made me confident they can do well at the big match in December,” he said.

The Lao team is competing in the tournament until this weekend and then they will return home to prepare for the games next month.

Mr Viphet said that during the competition in Cambodia , he told the team to save some energy because the SEA Games were only one month away. The competition draw was held at the Lao International Trade and Exhibition Convention Centre in Vientiane by 25th SEA Games Organising Committee officials and SEA Games Federation staff.

The draw covered the sports of badminton, water polo, football, sepak takraw, table tennis and volleyball.

The men's football teams will be divided into two groups. Laos will be in Group B along with Myanmar , Singapore and Indonesia , while in Group A Thailand will play against Vietnam , Malaysia , Timor Leste and Cambodia .

The women's teams will play in only one group, comprising Malaysia , Thailand , Myanmar , Vietnam and Laos.


By Souknilundon Southivongnorath
Vientianetimes