Vietnam meet Malaysia in Grand Royal Cup

Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnam Olympic team is set to meet Malaysia in their Grand Royal Challenge opener in Myanmar on Nov. 12.

This is the second consecutive match between the two teams this year.
Vietnam hoisted the Merdeka Cup in triumph after a penalty shootout win
over Malaysia last month.

Coach Chung instructed his players to take advantage of all chances to
shoot from outside the box in the match.

" Malaysia will come at us with a strong defence as a result of their
loss in the Merdeka Cup final. We will play a defensive game and long range
shoots are our favourite method to overpower Malaysia ," Chung was quoted
as saying on the Vietnam Football Federation website.

The coach has another reason to be confident for the tournament opener -
three key players have recovered from injuries and will be ready to play.

Although top striker Phan Thanh Binh was called up by the national senior
team on Nov. 5 and will miss the game against Malaysia, Chung believes that
captain Mai Xuan Hop will do his best in Nov. 12 match along with strikers
Nguyen Quy Suu, Hoang Danh Ngoc and Cong Huy.

Malaysian coach Satiananthan was impressed by Vietnamese goalie Bui Tan
Truong and midfielder Hop in the Merdeka Cup final last month.

Truong, 22, blocked Malaysian Norhafiz Zamani Misbah's shot-on-goal during
the penalty shoot-out in the final.

The Vietnamese team is in group B with Malaysia and the Republic of
Korea 's Hyundai team. Myanmar , Indonesia and Bangladesh make up
group A.