The draw ceremony for the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Cup (AFC Cup) took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on June 29. Accordingly, Vietnam’s Binh Duong club will meet Thailand’s Chonburi.

Coach Kiatisuk of Thailand’s Chonburi club.

The two teams will play the first leg on September 15 at Chonburi’s home stadium and the second match on September 30 at Binh Duong’s Go Dau stadium.

Vietnamese analysts say that Chonburi club, led by Kiatisuk, a former star of Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai club, is not the favourite. In the qualifier round, Binh Duong defeated the Thai rival 3-1. However, Chonburi trounced Hanoi ACB twice, by the scores of 2-0 and 6-0.

In the second round, Binh Duong defeated Malaysia’s Kedal (8-2) while Chonburi powered past Indonesia’s PSMS Medan (4-0).

Besides coach Kiatisuk, Chonburi has many members of the Thai national squad, such as goalkeeper Kosin, fullback Suree Sukha and Ekaphan. Meanwhile, Binh Duong owns six members of the Vietnamese squad.

Draw results for the AFC Cup 2009 quarterfinals:

Al Karamah (Syria) - Al Arabi (Kuwait)
Kuwait SC (Kuwait) - Arbil (Iraq)
Neftchi (Uzbekistan) - South China (Hong Kong)
Chonburi FC (Thailand) – Binh Duong (Vietnam)

PV