AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 Official Draw

September 15, Hanoi: The draw for the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 – the premier football tournament in South-East Asia – was held at the Sheraton Hotel here today.

The biennial tournament to crown the kings of Asean football will be co-hosted by Vietnam andIndonesia in December following a four-team qualifying event in Laos in October.

The event is organised by the Asean Football Federation.

Six nations were drawn into two groups of four with the remaining slots to be filled by the two qualifiers. The leading two teams from each group will advance to the home-and-away semi-finals with the final also being played on a home-and-away basis.

Holders and co-hosts Vietnam were drawn in Group B with Singapore, tournament champions on three occasions, and Myanmar, who have been involved in some of the most memorable matches in the event’s history yet have still to lift the title.

In Group A, co-hosts Indonesia, who played in three straight finals from 2000 but have yet to win the tournament, will meet three-time champions Thailand, coached by former England captain Bryan Robson, and Malaysia, on a high after winning the SEA Games football title last December.

Top Japanese car and motorcycle manufacturers, Suzuki Motor Corporation are sponsoring the AFF Suzuki Cup for the second time.

Vietnam lifted the trophy for the first time in the history of the tournament in 2008 thanks to a 3-2 aggregate victory (2-1, 1-1) over Thailand in the two-leg final. Superstar striker Le Cong Vinh grabbed the goal that sent the nation into raptures in the third minute of added time.

The group matches from December 1-8 will be staged at the My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi and the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

The 40,000-capacity My Dinh Stadium hosted the second leg of the final in 2008 while the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, which can hold 87,000 spectators, was the venue for the Asian Cup final between Iraq and Saudi Arabia in 2007.

After the group matches, the top two teams in each pool will progress to the two-leg semis to be staged home and away on December 15 and 16 and December 18 and 19. The first leg of the final will be on December 26 with the finale three days later.

Two spots were left open in the draw for the first and second-placed teams from the qualifying tournament at the National Sports Complex in Vientiane involving hosts Laos, Cambodia,Philippines and Timor Leste from October 22-26. Laos and Cambodia were the two qualifiers in 2008. 

www.AFFsuzukicup.com