Chappuis up for Malaysia clash

Posted Saturday, December 20, 2014 by Foxsports.com

Malaysia host Thailand in the second leg of the AFF Suzuki Cup final at the Bukit Jalil Stadium on Saturday.

Thailand won the first-leg 2-0 in Bangkok and have beaten Malaysia twice in this year's tournament which means the hosts have a massive task ahead of them if they are to win the final on Saturday night.

The match is expected to be played in front of 100, 000 fans and the Malasian side will be hoping the massive support will lift them to win the final.

Thai midfielder Charyl Chappuis and his teammates say they will take nothing for granted.

"I think it will be something new for us players because we will be playing in front of 100,000 fans," said Chappuis.

"We are a very young team; we just need to be calm and play our normal game, and I think we will be fine," he added.

The Swiss-born Chappuis has earned himself a massive following on social media since moving to Thailand two-years ago.

His fan base has expanded across Southeast Asia, with almost 300,000 followers on his Instagram account alone.

Many Chappuis supporters were won over by his looks, but wants to be noticed for his football skills. "For me, it's more important they love me for my football skills," he said.

The midfielder says that he is hoping that his footballing skills do the talking as he would love to get noticed and play for a European club one day.

"I was born in Switzerland, and represented them until the under-21 level," said Chappuis. "But now I'm proud to play for Thailand; however, one of my dreams is also to play (league football) in Europe."

"My dream is to play for Barcelona, but I know that's not possible. I like the German Bundesliga, so my dream is to play there one day," he said.

Chappuis has signed a deal for the 2015 season with Thai football club Suphanburi FC.