Sivaji not distracted by Binh Duong’s woes
Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com
Home United coach PN Sivaji is refusing to let his guard down as he prepares his team for a crunch AFC Cup clash against a troubled Becamex Binh Duong side on Tuesday.
The Vietnamese side’s hopes of progressing into the knockout stages took a significant blow two weeks ago, when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Thailand’s Provincial Electric Authority.
Not only did that result see both teams lag two points behind Home in Group H, the match also saw Binh Duong pick up two yellow cards and a sending-off, meaning that three players will be suspended when they face the Protectors in Ho Chi Minh City.
Added to that is the club’s recent decision to give Portuguese coach Francisco Vital the boot, with a local coach taking over on a caretaker basis for the match against Home.
All these events have plunged the mood in Binh Duong to a low ahead of Tuesday’s encounter, with the only piece of good news coming in the form of the team’s May Day victory over Thanh Hoa, lifting them up to sixth in the V-League table.
But Sivaji is determined not to be lulled into complacency by everything that has happened to his opponents, as he maintained that they are still a force to be reckoned with.
“The developments are not going to change the preparations for this match – well, not ours,” he told sleague.com.
“The thing is that these developments could work out in one of two opposite ways. The team may be suffering from the absences of these people on paper, but the players on the bench may want to impress their new coach and come out with all guns blazing.
“I think we have to take the game as seriously as we would if all their players were available. They were a threat when we played them at Jalan Besar, and they are a threat too at home.
“I had earlier stated that they would be the strongest team in our group, and I am not backing off from that earlier statement. We won’t fear them, but we will give them all the respect they are due.”
That respect is despite the suspensions to Huynh Quang Thanh, Nguyen Hoang Vuong and Helio da Silva, all of whom are on the defensive side for Binh Duong.
The absence of the Brazilian could be particularly damaging for the hosts, as Sivaji eventually acknowledged on further discussion of the subject.
“One of the three suspended players didn’t play against us, but the other two, including the foreigner, played,” noted the 57-year-old.
“I thought that foreigner was quite instrumental in the game against us, so it will be interesting to see whether the Binh Duong captain (Vu Nhu Thanh) will take a greater responsibility. I expect that he can, since he also plays for Vietnam.”
In contrast to the hosts’ depressed state, the mood in the Home camp was clearly more upbeat.
Three wins in the club’s last four matches – including a comfortable 3-0 victory over Balestier Khalsa in the RHB Singapore Cup – have left the Protectors feeling confident, more so given the purple patch of form the team is showing in the attacking department.
Cameroonian striker Kengne Ludovick has shown an upswing in form by grabbing four goals during that period, while Shahril Ishak, Juma’at Jantan and Firdaus Idros were also among the goals and could feature against the Vietnamese.
There has also been good news from the treatment room, as Peres de Oliveira and Shi Jiayi appear to have recovered from the minor injuries that had kept them out of the win over Balestier.
Veteran skipper S. Subramani was one of those who played in that match, clocking a substitute appearance that lasted over 20 minutes.
Having finished that match unscathed, the former Singapore international could join Oliveira and Shi in the starting eleven as Sivaji declared that his team would go flat out to secure early passage into the knockout phase, even with a major league match on Sunday.
“All three should play; in fact, I think all three should be good to start,” said the former Singapore coach.
“We are now in a situation where we know that if we win, we’re through to the next stage. So we’ll need all the experienced hands on deck, and all three of them have got the experience for big matches like this one.
“This is a match where you’d count on the three of them to lead the team. I’ll be lying if I say we’re not thinking about Sunday, but this is not the time to pull back and save something for Sunday.
“We have the chance to make our last group game academic, and that is a very good chance. We’ll be putting all our energies into this match, and we’ll think about Sunday’s match after we are done with this one.”
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