Chonburi coach Kiatisuk Senamuang

Vietnamese club Binh Duong will meet Thailand’s Chonburi FC at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup quarterfinals according to Monday’s draw in Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur.

Chonburi has a slight advantage with coach Kiatisuk Senamuang, who played for Vietnam’s V-League club Hoang Anh Gia Lai from 2002 till 2006. He was instrumental in the Vietnamese club’s promotion to V-League in 2002 and helped it to two consecutive V-League championships in 2003 and 2004.

His current club won the Thai League championship in 2007 and was the runner-up in 2008.

Senamuang’s Chonburi topped its group in this year’s AFC qualifying round with five wins and one loss, scoring 17 goals and conceding four. It beat Vietnam’s Hanoi ACB 2-0 in Hanoi and 6-0 in Thailand. Its only defeat was to Hong Kong’s Eastern when it was already the group leader and wanted to rest the players.

Binh Duong technical manager Nguyen Van Hiep said he was happy with the draw as beating Chonburi would be easier than a club from Western Asia.

Also in the AFC Cup quarterfinals, Al Karamah of Syria plays Al Arabi of Kuwait, Al Kuwait faces Iraq’s Arbil and Neftchi of Uzbekistan plays South China of Hongkong.

If Binh Duong advances to the semis, it will take on the winner between Al Karamah of Syria and Al Arabi of Kuwait in the first and second leg on October 15 and 30, respectively, for a berth in the final.

Reported by Quang Huy – Thuy Khanh