25th SEA Games, Laos

The Lao Football Federation is cooperating with Lao National Television and the Crossfire Company to host a four nation pre-SEA Games men's football tournament.

The tournament will see Lao, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese footballers play in Vientiane from October 2-6 with the aim of testing the broadcasting system and the facilities at the new national stadium.

Lao Football Federation President Phouvanh Vongsouthi said at a press conference on Tuesday the four football teams are playing an important role in the 25th SEA Games by testing the football field, broadcasting system and other aspects related to the big event.

The press conference reported that tickets for these matches will be sold for 40,000 kip for general admission and 80,000 kip for VIP seating. The money from ticket sales will be used to fund local football in the future.

“The preparation matches will also test the readiness of the Lao national football team for the games in December. I have heard reports from Vietnam that the team has greatly improved, coming out on top in tournaments held there in recent weeks,” Mr Phouvanh said.

The Lao football team is ranked seventh in Asean countries and 174th in the world.

The exhibition games will be named the ‘4-Nations Football Tournament 2009'.

The tournament begins on October 2, with Laos taking on Thailand and Vietnam playing Malaysia . October 4 will feature Malaysia and Thailand , and Laos facing Vietnam , while the last day will pit Laos against Malaysia . Vietnam will also challenge Thailand on this day. Starting games begin at 4:30pm and the second matches will be at 7pm.

Lao National Television Deputy Director General Souvanh Vilaiseng said this will be an opportunity to test broadcasting ability locally and in other countries.

The Lao Football Federation's goal for this tournament is to help prepare the SEA Games Committee, Lao National Television, and National Stadium staff to train in a live event before the actual games. To help support this effort, the federation appointed Crossfire to manage the event.

Crossfire has linked services with Total Sports Asia, an international media company, to bring in experts from around the world to offer training to SEA Games personnel and to Lao National Television.

Lao National Television benefits by learning international broadcasting techniques to build capacity, and to make this broadcast meet the highest international standards. They are providing the broadcast feed to Total Sports Asia for distribution to Thailand , Vietnam , Malaysia , Laos and other countries.

Crossfire Company Director Thiphakhanh Vilavanh said the 4-Nations Football Tournament is a defining moment in the history of Laos to demonstrate to an international audience that the country is capable of hosting international quality events.

“We are demonstrating, as Lao people, that we have the willpower and confidence to bring our close neighbours to play in this beautiful new stadium, which is a monument to the new future of Laos ,” he said.

During the press conference the Lao Football Federation, Lao National Television and Crossfire signed a cooperation agreement. The company also donated 100 million kip in support of the SEA Games.

By Souknilundon Southivongnorath
Vientianetimes

Lao People's Democratic Republic are the first team to be knocked out of the Final Round of the 1st Asian Youth Games (AYG) Singapore 2009 football competition after a 4-1 loss to Saudi Arabia.


Laos vs Saudi Arabia

The Laotians put up a brave fight but were undone by poor finishing and a clinical Saudi attack.

Lao People's Democratic Republic coach Soutsakhone Oudomphet said: "The boys put in a good performance. We had many chances but were not able to take it."

In the previous match, Laos also lost to South Korea 1:8


Laos vs South Korea

Former Viet Nam football team coach Alfred Riedl has agreed to coach Laos’s U-23 team ahead of the Southeast Asian Games this December.

The 60-year-old Austrian coach, who was sacked by V-League Hai Phong Cement in March after just three games, signed a seven-month contract with Football Federation of Laos in HCM City on Saturday.

The coach’s salary will be paid by the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group, who own V-League team Hoang Anh Gia Lai, a source from Hoang Anh Gia Lai said yesterday.

Last year, the group agreed to finance the training of the U-23 football squad for the 25th SEA Games, which take place in December, following a visit by the Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Langsavad to the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai.

The Hoang Anh Gia Lai group will also cover the expenses of the Lao footballers while they are training at the group’s sport centre in Gia Lai Province.
The Group and the Lao Ministry of Finance have signed a memorandum of understanding on the construction of apartments for athletes competing in the SEA Games. Under the agreement, Hoang Anh Gia Lai will pay US$14 million to build 1,000 rooms for the 25th SEA Games.

Under Riedl’s stewardship, Viet Nam won a silver medal at the ASEAN Football Championship, known as Tiger Cup in 1998.

Viet Nam also won silver medals at the 1999 and 2003 SEA Games and the 23rd SEA Games in the Philippines in 2005.

However, he resigned after the team performed poorly at the 24th SEA Games in Thailand.

Viet Nam’s greatest achievement under Riedl’s stewardship was to reach the Asian Cup quarter-finals in July 2007, which the country co-hosted along with Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

In 2001, the Austrian coach also failed to save Khanh Hoa from relegation in the V-League after four months.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Lao football federation invited the Chonburi club FC and TTM Samut Songkhram of Thailand and Hoang An Gia Lai club from Vietnam to join the warm up match of football championship in preparation for the 25th SEA Games at the end of this year.

Nivat Kaisang, Manager of Lao National Football Team, revealed that the football championship of four teams from three countries will be kicked off from 17-20 September 2009, in which Laos will use the national team that will participate in SEA Games, and famous football clubs from Thailand and Vietnam will be invited to join. The game will be held at the newly built stadium in Champasak province, southern part of Laos.

The objective of the competition is to warm up Lao national team in preparation for the 25th SEA Games, and to build up good relationship between the clubs in Thailand and Vietnam. In the near future, Laos also plan to organize similar football championshiop by inviting thai national team for SEA Games to join the match on October this year.

The national men's football team will return from Vietnam in June to continue their training in Vientiane after bad weather disrupted their training in Vietnam .

Head Coach Xaysana Savatdy told Vientiane Times yesterday the team would resume their training in Laos because the wet season in Vietnam meant conditions there were unsuitable.

“Out training facility in Hanoi doesn't have an indoor court, so it's hard for our players to practise their skills and techniques in preparation for the SEA Games in December,” he said.

The 30 member squad left Vientiane in early March to train in Hanoi and have improved under the guidance of Vietnamese trainers.

“We initially planned to stay in Vietnam for longer, but the rain is hindering our preparations so we will return to Laos for a short time,” Mr Xaysana said.

“At the training camp here we can easily monitor the players' health, nutrition and training regime. We have found their skills and strategies have improved greatly and are looking forward to some competitive matches to test the team.”

The team hopes to play some matches on their return home to put their training into practice.

A member of the squad said the team has been training hard across a variety of areas in Hanoi .

“The Vietnamese coach has a lot of experience, having played football and studied at a football school before becoming a coach. The training facility also has top quality equipment and pitches.”

“Some members of the squad are still students and are having troubles with their studies. The Lao Football Federation wants to solve those problems soon in line with the Prime Minister's agreement on study arrangements for SEA Games athletes,” said Mr Xaysana.

He said he was confident the team would perform well at the games.

“Let's wait and see the difference in the squad when they return to Vientiane . I believe they will surprise many people in the matches leading up to the games and also during the event itself.”

In the coming months a final squad of 20 players will be selected for the games and they will return to train in Hanoi in August or September.

By Souknilundon Southivongnorath
vientianetimes