Thailand’s Suphaphorn Phomphinit could help his team beat Iran in the final match of the 2nd International U.21 Football tournament in Hue city this evening.

Iran’s young players have proven their excellence in the Thanh Nien Newspaper Cup, but the defensive weaknesses they displayed in the semifinals could be their Achilles’ heel against Thailand in the finals.

The smaller Southeast Asian teams have been no match for the Persian squad’s physical strength.

Iran breezed through Singapore and Myanmar in the group stage and beat their Vietnamese hosts 4-0 in the semifinals Friday.

However, their defense faltered several times against Vietnam.

The Iranian defenders were easily confused and let through at least two Vietnamese attacks that should not have been launched.

Had it not been for the excellent goalkeeping of Bagher Shadeghi, the final score would have been at least 4-2.

Thailand’s head coach Kawin Kachendecha said he watched the Vietnam-Iran semifinal match and realized that though the west-Asian squad was full of style, they were a bit slow in dealing with quick attacks.

The Thai coach said he would have his players try to split the defense and exploit the weakness.

The key to Thailand’s success could be dynamic midfielder Yodark and captain Suphaphorn’s powerful strikes.

Kachendecha implied he would prefer to use counterattacks against Iran rather than applying constant pressure.

“Iran is certainly at a higher level than us and other teams in Southeast Asia. It would be too risky to attack allthe time,” Kawin said.

“I think Vietnam chose a reasonable strategy against Iran in the semis. We’ll do it better because we have solid players from the back line to the front line who have had more time playing together than the Vietnamese squad.”

Kawin also said his team had more stamina than Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Iran’s coach Nenad Nikolic said: “Thailand’s U.21 team will be hard to beat. They have a modern style. The players play faster and more strategically than the other teams in this tournament.

“It will be a hard match for us…my players have displayed some vulnerability, which is a big concern for me. I will try to solve the problem.”

But the Croatian coach was not coy: “Of course, we really want to win this year’s Thanh Nien Cup championship.”

As for the fight for third place at the U.21 tournament, Vietnam is favored to beat Singapore today.

Vietnam’s Huda Hue club coach Doan Phung said “if Vietnam plays in form, they will defeat Singapore. Vietnam has played more skillfully than Singaporean players in this tournament.”

Iran’s Nikolic said: “Singapore’s U.21 players are the weakest of the four teams in the semis. I bet Vietnam will win.”

However, Vietnam’s head coach Luu Quoc Tan was cautious.

“I have watched the Singaporean players play. They are not very strong.

“Yet we won’t be overconfident. I’ve warned my players to play cautiously. Myanmar’s players were overconfident and suffered a loss to Singapore in the group stage.”

Reported by Giang Lao