Kuching: Laos coach Valakone Phomphakdy was delighted the lack of rain on Wednesday evening allowed his team to play their regular style of football as they defeated Mongolia to advance to the knockout phase of the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup.
Laos cruised into the semi-finals with a 3-0 win that took them through to the last four in second place in Group B behind Macau and set up a meeting on Saturday with Group A winners Nepal.
Sitthideth Khanthavong gave Laos a flying start with a goal from the penalty spot after just seven minutes before further strikes from Khouanta Sivongthong and Xaisongkham Champathong sealed the country’s second win of the competition.
“We knew how Mongolia would play and the field condition today was better than before so it helped our tactics,” said the coach. “We prepared well for this game.
“For me it wasn’t a surprise (we started so well) because we try to play like this until the finish. We always ask the players to do this and even if the first half ended in a draw or not we had to have the confidence to keep going. If we can score early this is good for the players’ confidence.
“I’m a little bit surprised at the score, but I’m not surprised about how we played. I thought if we won 2-0, it would be enough for us, but the last goal was a bonus. It finished the game for us and meant the final few minutes were easier and we didn’t have to worry because there was no pressure.
“When we came to this tournament we had confidence because the level of every team is not so different. We have played Mongolia and Macau before, and it’s not so different. We lost against Macau because of the field condition, but in the semi-finals it will be different because we know how Nepal play. In semi-final everything can happen.”
Mongolia had gone into the game in an upbeat frame of mind after winning their previous game 2-0 against Sri Lanka, a result that left Toshiaki Imai’s team only needing a draw to advance to the knockout phase.
But the Japanese coach was left dejected by his team’s showing.
“Today this match was an unhappy experience for me and my team,” he said. “The Laos players’ fighting spirit was stronger than ours and in the first-half our players were sleeping and I think that’s what caused today’s result.
“Maybe they think our side can go to the semi-final and they can take it easy. I told them it was a very difficult game for us because they don’t have so much experience and today their performance was like that.
“I hoped we could get the first goal, but after only five minutes we had the penalty kick and we lost the goal and it was a very big turning point.”
