Francesco Moriero, the coach of Maldives national football team comments that the team will exude Italian style of football during its game against Thailand in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifier.
The Maldivian national football team will go up against Thailand's counterpart on Thursday evening.
With the match expected to kick off at 17:00hrs on Maldivian local time, the Group C matches which include Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka apart from Maldives and Thailand will proceed at Uzbekistan.
The second game of Thursday will be played between Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.
During the pre-match press conference, Moriero assured that the Maldivian national team's playing style will have parallels with the Italian game styles on the pitch.
While making this remark, he also noted on the visible differences in the game styles of the two countries. Moriero assured that he was actively working on changing the game style of the Maldivian team.
"This team consists of exceptional players, and these players have been working hard to comply with the changes I am bringing to the team. But it will take considerable time for this change to be fully reflected," Moriero commented.
According to Moriero, the most tactical approach in football is visible from Italian and European teams.
The former Inter-Milan's midfielder further claimed that going against Italian teams or other major European teams do have psychological impacts of the opponents.
Moreover, Moriero had claimed that the team attempted to showcase a similar game style during its match against Bangladesh earlier in March during the friendly game.
"The way we had played that game elevated my interest and the intrigued the supporters as well," Moriero spoke about the friendly game which concluded with a 3-0 win for the Maldivian national team.
While speaking about the opponent teams in the group, Moriero addressed his evaluation noting that Thailand plays an offensive-attacking game with quick passes and prompt succession towards goal attacks.
"What we have to do is to ensure that they [Thailand] is not given the chance to make their play, we also need to play an effectively stronger game," he added.
"We are not here on vacation, we aim to represent the Maldives in a manner that will please its supporters," Moriero claimed while further ensuring that the team will give its maximum at the field on Thursday's game.
Historically, Maldives had gone up against Thailand thrice, first in 1996 during the Asian Cup qualifier which ended with an 8-0 win in Thailand's favor.
The most recent clash on the pitch between the teams took place in 2012 which ended up with a 3-0 win for Thailand.
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