Bhutan is determined to battle it out against Hong Kong, China tomorrow at the Changlingmithang Stadium in Thimphu. During the pre-match press conference held this afternoon, Bhutan’s head coach Pema said the team is in good spirits and will try to capitalise on the home advantage this time around. Bhutan lost to Hong Kong last week in the first leg of the AFC World Cup Qualifiers Preliminary Round One played at the Hong Kong Stadium.
According to Bhutan’s head coach, the coaching department has analysed Thursday’s away loss and will now play a technical game at home tomorrow.
He added that due to the advantages of favourable climatic conditions and the home crowd, the team hopes to do better.
‘‘In the away match, I think our plan did not work. Now, we will be playing differently. For 90 minutes we will give our one hundred per cent. Whenever we get the ball we will be counter-attacking,” said Pema, Head Coach of Bhutan Men’s National Football Team.
‘‘Playing away and home are very different. Playing an away match is very difficult for any team. Even we had a difficult time adjusting in the first half in Hong Kong. So, this will be the same for Hong Kong. It will be tough for them. So, we should start pressing from the beginning itself,” said Chencho Gyeltshen, Captain of Bhutan Men’s National Football Team.
On the other hand, the Hong Kong, China national team says that although they are not used to playing on artificial turf, they are training well to adapt to the new environment and win the match.
‘‘We did not feel a difference in the climate and the air but the field was different for us. We are not used to playing on artificial grass. We will see it in the training today. We have to train in the stadium. We have to make use of it today and then we can see how we can match it. But I think because of our quality and playing style, we can match it well,” said Jorn Andersen, Head Coach of Hong Kong, China Men’s National Football Team.
‘‘Our mentality is good. Obviously, we won our home game and it was a positive result. Like the coach said we came here to win and we want to bring the victory home. We are ready to play,” said Yu Jesse Joy Yin, a footballer of Hong Kong, China Men’s National Team.
In 2015, Hong Kong defeated Bhutan 7-0 in the second round of the World Cup Qualifiers in Hong Kong. In the return leg, Bhutan saw the match through with a narrow score line of 1-0 at home.
Tomorrow’s match will start at 6 pm local time.
Karma Wangdi
Edited by Kipchu
