Thai club Chonburi’s coach Kiatisuk Senamuang says V-League 2008 champions Binh Duong will be a tough team to beat at the Asian Football Confederation Cup quarterfinals.

“I have watched Binh Duong players and I think they are excellent and have shown consistent form. They also have the advantage of playing the second leg at home.”

Kiatisuk said he knew Binh Duong’s strengths and would know what to ask his players to do in the first leg of the AFC Cup quarterfinals on September 15 and in the second leg on September 30.

Kiatisuk also said the Thai League was still ongoing and his players are tired while Binh Duong is in a better position because the V-League tournament has ended.

However, the local knowledge of coach Kiatisuk, who played for Vietnam’s V-League club HAGL from 2002 till 2006, could give Chonburi a slight advantage over Binh Duong. He’d played a key role in the Vietnamese club’s promotion to V-League in 2002 and helped it to two consecutive championship titles in 2003 and 2004.

His current club won the Thai League championship in 2007 and was the runner-up in 2008. Chonburi currently holds second place in the Thai league this season, behind Muang Thong United..

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 had already topped the group and sought to rest its main players.

Reported by Quang Tuyen