There was some competitive sparring among the players ahead of tomorrow’s friendly between the national team and Greek club Olympiakos, but the coaches are taking markedly different approaches to the game.

Some leading players of both teams will be missing as the two sides clash at Hanoi’s My Dinh Stadium.

Thanh Nien asked national team coach Henrique Calisto at a press conference Tuesday if he had the best 11 he wanted to field, and how he compared the team with the one that won the AFF Cup last year.

Shaking his head, Calisto said, “It’s hard to compare but the national team now is not as strong as the one at the AFF Cup.”

He said he had only five members of the team that played the last four matches in the 2008 AFF Cup - Phuoc Tu, Viet Cuong, Tan Tai, Cong Vinh and Viet Thang.

Other players like Nhu Thanh, Vu Phong and Quang Thanh were busy playing for V-League defending champions Binh Duong at the Asian Football Confederation Cup qualifying rounds.

Other quality players like Tai Em, Minh Phuong, Minh Chau and Quang Cuong were nursing injuries, he said.

“I don’t mean the midfield will be weaker because of the lack of experienced players; but it is extremely hard to put in new faces,” Calisto said. “Three days of practicing together may not be enough for new comers to understand each other and combine as well as expected.”

Calisto looked a bit uncomfortable when another reporter asked him about the physical strength of his players.

“I am surprised that the press always worries about the physical strength of the team. Why don’t people hope the team will play beautifully?” Calisto asked. “I am always very optimistic despite lots of difficulties.”

Calisto said he was beginning to feel pleased with the way the old and new players were playing together in the practice sessions over the past couple of days.

He said his main goal was not to beat Olympiakos, but to see how the new players perform at the national level.

He said he wanted to know if the new players can make good substitutes when the favorites are not able to play for the national team for one reason or the other.

Top-striker Le Cong Vinh was very keen to get going, though, and not fazed by the visitors’ reputation.

Olympiakos made it to the quarterfinals of the European the Champions League last year and have won both the Super League Greece and the Greek cup this year.

“Olympiakos is a very strong team but wait and see. Vietnam will spring a surprise. It is not just me, but my teammates also want to score!” he said.

Olympiakos goalkeeper Nikopolidis, who won the European Championship in 2004 with Greece, retorted: “I will wait to see if you can do it. It won’t be easy for you.”

Coach Ernesto Valverde, set to leave Olympiakos because the club did not agree to increase his salary to 1.5 million euros (US$2 million) a season, expects a victory despite the absence of a few leading players.

“Olympiakos players are pleased to come to Vietnam, a country that is pretty new for us. For me, the match against Vietnam will be my last match as Olympiakos coach.

“I’ve had a very successful season with the club, in the super league and national cup championship. So I want to end the season with the club with an exciting match, showing the ranking of a good European team.

“We have never played against a national team, but we will try our best this time and we will win.”

Reported by Lan Phuong