I

ndonesian striker Sergio van Dijk is aiming to cause trouble in the Vietnamese rear when the two teams meet in the Group A opening game of the AFF Suzuki Cup soccer championship in Hanoi on Saturday.

'€œI have been watching their games and they show a defect that I can exploit,'€ Sergio was quoted by Antara as saying on Friday.

The Dutch-born naturalized Indonesian said he was not certain himself if he would start in the game in My Dinh Stadium. During warm-up matches against Timor Leste and Syria prior to the team'€™s departure for Hanoi, Sergio was included in the starting lineup. Currently playing for Suphanburi FC of Thailand, Sergio said he had never played a Vietnamese side. However, he expressed confidence about matching the hosts'€™ speed on the field.

Meanwhile, coach Alfred Riedl is hopeful Saturday'€™s opener will be the first of three meetings with his former employers during the tournament.

Austrian Riedl remains a much-loved figure in Vietnam having enjoyed three spells in charge of the national team, which included their only appearance in the quarterfinals of the AFC Asian Cup in 2007 as well as three Southeast Asian Games silver medals in 1999, 2003 and 2005.

But on Saturday Riedl will look to use his knowledge of the Vietnam team, with several players remaining in the squad since he last departed in 2007, as four-time runner-up Indonesia seeks to bounce back from their 2012 group-stage exit.

'€œI feel very well when I come back, and there are so many friendly people around me. Maybe this is
the last time I will come back, but in principle I would like to play three times against Vietnam in this tournament,'€ Riedl said as quoted on tournament'€™s website affsuzukicup.com.

Riedl famously underwent a kidney transplant in 2007 with an organ donated by a Vietnam fan.

'€œI can say that I have never had such a difficult preparation because I only got the players together on the 13th of this month, and before I had the players together on March fifth. But I have never had all the players together because players have been on other duties like the AFC Cup, so for 12 international matches we had 60 different players.

The preparation is not as I had wished, but we are here to do something.'€

Vietnam, which won the tournament in 2008, also exited in the group stage in 2012 but rounded off its preparations for this year'€™s tournament with a morale-boosting 3-1 win over 2010 champion Malaysia.

Vietnam'€™s Japanese coach Toshiya Miura, though, has confirmed midfielders Nguyen Minh Chau and Nguyen Trong Hoang and goalkeepers Nguyen Thanh Diep and To Vinh Loi will be unavailable for the Group A opener due to injury.

'€œI am happy to be here for my first time in the AFF Cup. I have great expectations for the players and I don'€™t feel any pressure,'€ said Miura.

'€œThe first game in any tournament is important.'€

Indonesia holds an upper hand over Vietnam in the tournament first staged in 1996, winning three times and drawing on the other two occasions.

Philippines will take on Laos in the other match.

Group A, which is being hosted in Singapore, begins its matches on Sunday with the four-time champion host challenged by three-time champion Thailand, and Malaysia facing Myanmar.