Indonesia coach Alfred Riedl on Friday said he was not going to let his team drop its guard.
“Laos has showed great progress in recent years, and [coach] David Booth has done a good job with that team,” Riedl said.
If it beats Laos, Indonesia, which is seeking its maiden AFF Cup title, will advance to the semifinals. And if it plays the way it did against Malaysia, there’s no reason why the hosts can’t do so.
Another plus for Indonesia is Riedl’s history with Laos.
The Austrian national coached Laos before he signed up for Indonesia in May.
Riedl is often credited for Laos’s surprising improvement.
He guided the Laos under-23 team to a 2-0 upset of Indonesia at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games for its only win in the tournament.
Riedl did not reveal how he would use his knowledge of the Laotian players to help beat the team he served for a year.
“I’m just very happy to meet them. I expect a tough match, and of course we have to win it,” said Riedl, who is likely to retain the same starting 11 that demolished Malaysia.
Indonesia captain Firman Utina said there would be no letup against Laos.
“Our team is in great shape, and we’re really in such high spirits,” he said. “We believe we can win the Cup, and I urge all our fans to continue supporting us.”
For Laos, Booth said his team was determined to prove its draw with Thailand was no fluke.
“We’d like to think that we can perform just like we did in the first game,” he said.
“Indonesia is very much in the same category as Thailand, so we know it’ll be a very difficult game.
“We have to work hard if we want to make a game out of it.”
The Indonesia-Laos match will be broadcast live on RCTI.