Vietnam are ready for their opening match in the ASEAN Football Federation-Suzuki Cup against Myanmar at the 40,000-seat My Dinh National Stadium which takes place on Dec.2.
Henrique Calisto called on Vietnamese fans to support the team during the region's most prestigious football tournament.
Although Myanmar have never beaten Vietnam in the AFF Cup, they are still regarded as something of an unknown quantity.
"We'll show Myanmar respect. We're the defending champions and all the teams know our tactics and style. So we'll have to work hard to retain the title," Calisto told a press conference on Dec.1.
"As the country is co-hosting the tournament, our players will have to cope with the weight of expectation of playing at home. Singapore are still a major rival for us, but we meet them in the third game. Vietnam must focus on the first game with Myanmar and the following match with the Philippines on Dec.5" he added.
The team play Singapore in the most anticipated game on December 8.
Myanmar arrived in Hanoi very early last weekend, as according to team coach Tin Myint Aung, they wanted the best preparations possible for the opening match today.(Dec.2)
"The group will be very tough for us, but I believe our players will try their best," Tin Myint Aung said.
Myanmar registered a win and a loss to China's Dalian in two friendlies last week.
Singapore's coach Radojko Avramovic said the match with Vietnam would be more
difficult because they were the defending champions.
"It's not the first time we've played in Vietnam. We'll try to gain points from every game and score more goals in the group competition," the Serbian said.
Two years ago, the three-time winners were eliminated in the two-leg semi-finals by Vietnam after a 1-0 defeat. But in the final in Hanoi 12 years ago, Singapore also edged Vietnam 1-0 to lift the trophy for their first time.
Filipino coach Simon McMenemy said the tournament would be a challenge for the Philippines, but felt they had no pressure on them, and his team would try their best.
Vietnam team, who won the title in 2008, will face Singapore, Myanmar and the Philippines in Group B.
Regional rivals Thailand, the 2008 AFF Cup runners-up, will face co-hosts Indonesia, Malaysia and Laos in Group A, which has been nicknamed the ‘Group of Death'.
At the first tournament in Singapore in 1996, Vietnam came third before finishing as runners-up in 1998 as the host nation.
Thailand and Singapore have both won the title three times./.
