Asian Cup 2019: Analyzing Vietnam's direct opponents in the group stage.

This is Yemen's first time competing in the Asian Cup, led by Slovakian coach Jan Kocian. Between 2006 and 2008, this Czechoslovakian star coached the Slovakian national team and spent many years as head coach of Polish clubs Ruch Chorzów, Pogoń Szczecin, and Podbeskidzie before taking over the Yemen national team from Mebratu.

It's hard work.Asian Cup 2019

In fact, the South Yemen national team had participated in the Asian Cup since 1972. Later, South Yemen and North Yemen merged to form the current state of Yemen. Therefore, the 2019 Asian Cup was the first time a unified Yemen national team participated.

Most of the Yemen national team players are over 24 years old. Photo: Internet

Yemen's qualification for the 2019 Asian Cup finals was already a great achievement. Coach Abraham Mebratu, who led the team in the qualifiers, said: “Nearly 19 million people in Yemen are in urgent need of food assistance. The team overcame many difficulties to be able to play in the 2019 Asian Cup.”

Journalist Mani Djazmi said of coach Mebratu, who helped Yemen qualify for the Asian Cup: “To select players, Mebratu had to search on seven-a-side pitches. Two of his pupils were shot during the civil war in Yemen. They often had to travel 48 hours to play away matches, but still made it to the 2019 Asian Cup finals.”

According to the schedule, the Vietnamese team will face Yemen in the third match, which is considered favorable for coach Park Hang-seo's team.

Simple style of play

In the FIFA rankings, Yemen is ranked 125th – 25 places lower than the Vietnamese national team. The team consists of players currently playing in their domestic league. The remaining few (8 players) play in the Qatar national league.

In 2018, the Yemen national team only played 3 matches, winning 1 (Nepal 2-1) and losing 2 (losing to Saudi Arabia 0-1, UAE 0-2). In the Middle East region, this team is not highly rated. Their attacking tactics are quite simple, the ball is launched into open spaces for strikers Al Hagri (10) and Ali Mansour (20) to rush and score goals. Yemeni players are strong in defense and ball winning, but their ability to coordinate in attack is quite limited.

Jan Kocian brought a 23-player squad to the UAE for the 2019 Asian Cup: 3 goalkeepers, 8 defenders, 8 midfielders, and 4 forwards. (Image: Internet)

We can point out some veteran names of this Middle Eastern team such as midfielder Al-Sasi (9), 31 years old, who has scored 8 goals for the national team, considered the most dangerous striker of Yemen. The 24-year-old striker, midfielder Al-Matari, after 29 appearances for the national team, also has 5 goals.

The youngest player on the team is midfielder Ahmed Abdulhakim Al-Sarori (20 years old), wearing the number 7 jersey, who will compete with Quang Hai for the best young player award. To date, after 18 appearances for the national team, this talented player has scored 2 goals. Eight players currently playing for clubs in the Qatar National League are all part of the team's starting lineup.

Coach Jan Kocian brought a 23-player squad to the UAE for the 2019 Asian Cup, including 3 goalkeepers, 8 defenders, 8 midfielders, and 4 forwards. The midfield is considered the team's strong point, with a negligible gap between the starting and reserve players. It wasn't the forwards, but the Yemeni midfielders who scored the most goals, accounting for 17 out of 24 goals, while the forwards only contributed 4. The remaining two goals were scored by Yemeni defenders.

Mr. Le Hoai Anh, General Secretary of the VFF, confidently confirmed: "The door to the round of 16 will be open if we limit our losses to Iran and Iraq and win convincingly."Yemen. Your team probably has the same plan; the question is who can execute it.”

Compared to the Yemen team, we have quite a few advantages, which allows fans to think highly of a victory for Coach Park Hang-seo's team.