Undefeated in Southeast Asia, but what is the problem of the Vietnam National Team?

Records

Since coach Park Hang-seo took charge of the Vietnam national team, no team in Southeast Asia has been able to defeat Vietnamese football. According to statistics, the Vietnam national team won 11 and drew 3. The U23 team won 7, drew 0 and lost 0.

Currently, Vietnamese football has the highest FIFA ranking of 11 teams in the region (ranked 97th in the world) and is on a 12-match unbeaten streak against opponents in the ASEAN bloc in official matches and the King's Cup 2019 friendly tournament.

Coach Park Hang-seo is holding records in Vietnamese football. Photo: Trung Kien

At the national team level, against all opponents, the Vietnam national team played 23 matches (won 12, drew 8, lost 3). At the U23/Olympic level, coach Park Hang-seo and his team played 26 matches, won 16, drew 6, lost 4.

Goalkeeper position

Under coach Park Hang-seo, there are 3 goalkeepers who are regularly used: Dang Van Lam, Nguyen Tuan Manh and Bui Tien Dung. In particular, at the national team level, Van Lam is the one who is most trusted by the Korean coach with a total of 21 matches since the AFF Cup 2018. Goalkeeper Tuan Manh was the main goalkeeper twice and the reserve once in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Coach Park Hang-seo’s trust in Van Lam is well-founded, as this goalkeeper has outstanding height and relatively good reflexes. However, Van Lam’s problem is his ability to control the 16m50 area. This has been revealed in several matches at the 2019 Asian Cup.

Goalkeeper Van Lam needs to overcome his weakness in playing high balls. Photo: Trung Kien

Recently in the match against Malaysia, goalkeeper Van Lam also had 2 situations that almost caused the Vietnam team to concede a goal. That was a corner kick and a throw-in, fortunately the defenders were able to correct his mistake in time. In the recent match against Indonesia, despite facing a weak opponent, his aerial battles were put in alarming situations a few times.

Of course, it is very difficult to replace goalkeeper Van Lam because the goalkeeper position requires stability and of the remaining faces such as Van Cuong, Tuan Manh and Nguyen Manh, only Tuan Manh has asserted himself in some matches in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers, especially the match against Jordan.

Losing focus when you have scored

Looking back at the 2018 AFF Cup, there was an opponent that always scored when meeting Vietnam, the Philippines, even though they lost 1-2 in both matches. Concentration is what the Vietnamese team needs to overcome when they scored first. In the first leg of the 2018 AFF Cup final at Bukit Jalil against Malaysia, Van Lam had to pick the ball out of the net twice in a row because of that lack of concentration.

Of course, playing at Malaysia's stadium is not easy and the Vietnamese team's defenders committed many fouls, allowing the opponent to take advantage of free kicks close to the 16m50 box.

Coach Park Hang-seo panicked many times during the match against Indonesia. Photo: Hai Hoang

In the 3-1 victory over Indonesia, all 3 central defenders of the Vietnam national team and goalkeeper Van Lam did not coordinate well, allowing home team player Riko (8) to pass the ball to Irfan to score and shorten the score. Duy Manh should have been more decisive in this situation.

Among the central defenders, Duy Manh is the most worrying position. In the match against Thailand, the defender of Hanoi FC had many difficulties because of the opponent's fast moves. It is understandable because Duy Manh is showing signs of overload due to continuous fighting for the club and the national team.

Scoring performance has declined.

Since Phan Van Duc got injured, the scoring efficiency of the Vietnam national team has decreased significantly. In the match against Thailand, we did not score any goals. In the match against Malaysia, the Vietnamese national team's attack only succeeded once from the ball that Ngoc Hai and Quang Hai coordinated with each other.

Although we beat Indonesia 3-1, it was a match in which we wasted too many opportunities. First was Quang Hai's obvious miss and at the end of the match was Hung Dung's penalty miss. After 3 matches in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, the Vietnamese team conceded a goal for the first time and scored 1.3 goals/match, our goal difference is behind Thailand and UAE.

The Vietnamese national team is expecting Quang Hai and Tien Linh to score goals. Photo: Hai Hoang

The limited number of goals scored by the Vietnam national team comes from many reasons. One of them is the pragmatic playing style of coach Park Hang-seo. However, it must also be recognized that the absence of Phan Van Duc and the unstable performance of Anh Duc and Cong Phuong are causing the Vietnam national team's attack to show signs of decline.

Striker Van Toan, the most anticipated player in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, had two rather lackluster matches against Malaysia and Indonesia. His usual acceleration was no longer present. It feels like the HAGL striker is not in the best physical condition and ball sense.

Overall, compared to the achievements of his predecessors, what Coach Park Hang-seo is doing for the Vietnam National Team is far beyond expectations. However, we still have two very difficult opponents, Thailand and UAE, and these problems need to be resolved soon. Otherwise, ranking first in Group G will be an extremely difficult task.

Vietnam national football team wants to win the group, Indonesian coach is convinced

(Baonghean.vn) – Sharing after the match between Vietnam and Indonesia in Group G of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers on the evening of October 15, Coach Park Hang-seo expressed his determination to defeat Thailand at home. Meanwhile, the Indonesian head coach acknowledged the strength of the Vietnam team.