Reijners: Winning three points is all that matters

Published on: 06 April 2017

Hanoi: AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifying hopefuls Myanmar remain fully focused on the Group D win column, and not goal difference, according to head coach Roger Reijners.

The 53-year-old said his charges were thinking only of three points ahead of Friday’s meeting with bottom-of-the-table Syria, despite seeing group rivals Vietnam dish out a clinical 11-goal thumping to the same opposition on Wednesday.

“In this tournament, the most important thing is win your games. So, on Friday, first and foremost, we must win our game,” said the former Dutch women’s national team boss.

“The most important thing is to win the game.”

The Southeast Asian side, ranked tenth in Asia and 44th in the world, made a confident start to the qualifying tournament on Monday, seeing off a resilient Islamic Republic of Iran thanks to first half goals from Win Theingi Tun and 17-year-old wunderkind July Kyaw.

But their win came at a cost, with captain Khin Marlar Tun and attacking midfielder May Thu Kyaw both set to miss Friday’s clash through injury, with the latter ruled out for the remainder of the tournament.

“Tun is definitely out for Friday and May Thu is definitely out for the tournament,” explained Reijners, who added that his skipper was also unlikely to return in time for what looms as a potential group-decider against Vietnam next Tuesday.

The match will take place exactly one year before the opening match of the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, but the widely experienced Reijners has insisted that he is not thinking beyond the next five days.

“We have to play very strong opponents here just to qualify. I think Vietnam are the best team in our group.”

Meanwhile, his opposite number, Syria head coach Abd Abdulghini Tatteesh is eager to rally his charges who are set to play a third match in five days after spending six years in the international football wilderness.

“We’re focusing on the spirit and the mental side. We’re not really focusing on the physical side because we don’t have time,” he said.

While their chances of qualifying for the finals all but gone, Tatteesh said the tournament is only the first step in reaching Syria’s long term goals.

“One of our messages of being here is to show the world we can play, then we want to make the game better in Syria in the future.”

Friday’s other Group D fixture sees a Singapore side still licking their wounds from Wednesday’s 6-0 defeat at the hands of Iran take on the daunting challenge of an in-form Vietnam.

Mai Duc Chung’s side produced a performance to send a shudder through his Group D counterparts against Syria, as seven different players got on the scoresheet in the 11-0 rout.

Despite the hosts sparkling start to the tournament, underlined by the imperious form of the star duo Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung and Nguyen Thi Lieu, Singapore coach Chen Caiying said her team was looking forward to the challenge of meeting opponents of such quality.

“Vietnam are a very strong team with great technique and understanding and we know they will be very attacking, but I always tell my players, ‘you always have to be positive. This is an opportunity and a new challenge for us.”

Photo: Vietnam Football Federation

Source: the-afc.com

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