The four-time V-League champion was indifferent to the drawing result of the men’s football event at 2017 Southeast Asia Games.
Le Thuy Hai stressed the importance of Vietnam showing its ruthless aggression to every competitor in the tournament, hence the drawing result won’t be a major factor.
Hai said since the gap between the teams is marginal, Vietnam needs to work hard in every game in its bid for the gold-medal drought.
“There are only 11 teams in the region, so we are familiar to every one of them,” Hai said in an interview with Vietnamnet.vn. “The drawing only slightly helps us for match preparation, as we know who are we going to play with,”
The veteran coach wasn’t too concern about the result.
“I don’t think this is the ‘Group of Death,’” Hai said. “The gap between the teams is marginal. Of course, Thailand is slightly better than the rest of us. But if we are fear of Thailand, then just stay home.”
Vietnam was drawn to group B, along with Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Philippines. This is considered the “Group of Death”, with three main competitors looking for two spots to the latter stage.
The host Malaysia is left in a relatively easier group with Myanmar, Singapore, Laos, and Brunei.
Hai is the four-time V-League champion with Da Nang and Binh Duong. Although he is considered one of the most decorated managers in the domestic competition, he has never coached the national team because of the lack of coaching license.