Decisive start vs Laos to fire up Azkals

MANILA, Philippines - Azkals captain Rob Gier stressed the importance of starting off the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup on the right note against Laos before bracing for “grudge matches” against 2010 tormentor Indonesia and host Vietnam in the next two games in Group A.

“Our main focus is making sure to get a good start against Laos. I think that’s important, to kinda set the tone for the tournament,” said Gier.

The Pinoy booters, who held their first training session at the My Dinh Stadium, kick off their bid against Laos tomorrow, looking to repeat their 2-0 disposal in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup in Maldives last May.

“We have to go in and show everyone what we’re about, that we mean business and you know, we have to go in there and beat that team to boost our chance of going through,” said the veteran defender.

After the Laotians, the Azkals are expected to have their hands full as they take on Indonesia, a squad that defeated them in the 2010 semis, on Nov. 25, and Vietnam, a team eager to avenge its 0-2 and 0-1 defeats in the last two editions of the meet, on Nov. 28.

 “If you look at it, rivalries are all over the place,” said Gier.

 “Against Vietnam, we’ve won two and lost none at the moment so they (Vietnamese) are gonna be gunning for us. And we’ll be playing them in front of 45,000 people – that makes it very intimidating, very hostile environment,” he said.

“There’s Indonesia, we lost to them in the semifinals in 2010 so there’s obviously gonna be a grudge match there, too,” he added.

Gier expressed belief it’s gonna be a tough grind.

“Every game’s gonna be difficult in this tournament; in my opinion, any of the teams can win it, so it’s gonna be tough,” he said. “But we’ll be giving our all, I can guarantee.”