PETALING JAYA: Vietnam skipper Le Tan Tai fears the past may come back to haunt his team.
Back in 2010, Tan Tai was part of the Vietnam team who were knocked out by a Malaysian side comprising a strikeforce of Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, Mohd Safee Sali, Safiq Rahim and S. Kunalan.
Then, Safee struck twice in the first-leg of the semi-finals at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Dec 15. It was enough to see Malaysia through to the final after Vietnam could only manage a goalless draw in the return leg in Hanoi on Dec 18.
Malaysia went on to beat Indonesia 4-2 on aggregate in the final to lift their first-ever Suzuki Cup.
Tomorrow, in the first-leg of the semi-finals at the Shah Alam Stadium, Tan Tai and his team-mates will be coming face-to-face with the bulk of the Malaysian players from the team of 2010.
“Malaysia still have a lot of players from the 2010 squad who won the competition. So, they are a strong team,” said versatile attacker Tan Tai at a pre-match press conference at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya on Friday.
“We beat Malaysia in a friendly last month but the team have become better. They can always rely on their key players like Norshahrul, Safee, Safiq and Kunalan ... these players can hurt us.
“We are also getting used to the hot weather here. We played in colder climate in Hanoi during our group stage, but the weather is not a big problem for us.”
Vietnam coach Toshiya Miura of Japan is looking for a win On Sunday, although he expects the vociferous Malaysian fans to try to intimidate his players.
The 51-year-old also said that his team are injury-free and goalkeeper Tran Nguyen Manh, who sprained his finger, has returned to training.
“We can’t play a defensive game here ... we will go for the kill. We need to think about the second leg as well. But we can’t lose focus in this match,” said Miura.
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