Vietnam Football 2021 and Impressions

In 2021, the Vietnamese team played a total of 15 matches. We won 5, drew 2 and lost 8 matches. Of the 8 losses, 7 were in the 2022 World Cup Asian qualifiers, the remaining match was the first leg of the 2020 AFF Cup semi-final against Thailand.

Some records

In 2021, the Vietnamese team played a total of 15 matches, won 5, drew 2 and lost 8. Photo: VFF

The 0-2 loss to Thailand ended Coach Park Hang Seo's 35-match unbeaten streak against Southeast Asian teams at all levels (U23, national team). In this series of matches, the Korean coach won 28 and drew 7. In the last 4 matches against Thailand after the 2018 AFF Cup, we drew 2 (all 0-0) and lost 1.

Vietnam is the first team in history to finish the group stage without conceding a goal in two consecutive AFF Cups. In the 2018 AFF Cup, Vietnam finished Group A with 10 points and topped the group, scoring 8 goals and conceding none. Vietnam played 4 matches, winning 3-0 against Laos, 2-0 against Malaysia, drawing 0-0 against Indonesia and 3-0 against Cambodia.

In this year's AFF Cup, Vietnam repeated the same journey when they were undefeated and did not concede a goal in the group stage. Vietnam successively defeated Laos 2-0, defeated Malaysia 3-0, drew Indonesia 0-0 and defeated Cambodia 4-0. However, failing to overcome Thailand, we had to leave Singapore early.

Coach Park and the Vietnamese players have had 13 consecutive unbeaten matches in the AFF Cup with 9 wins and 4 draws, equaling Singapore's record. In the 2016 AFF Cup, Vietnam beat Indonesia 2-1 in the second leg of the semi-final (losing 1-2 in the first leg), the two teams went into extra time and Vietnam let Indonesia equalize 2-2, having to watch their opponents advance to the final. Vietnam also remained unbeaten throughout their journey to win the 2018 AFF Cup with 8 unbeaten matches and 4 unbeaten matches in the group stage of this year's AFF Cup.

Personal mark

Midfielder Quang Hai.

Playing in 14 out of 15 matches of the national team in 2021, midfielder Quang Hai contributed 4 goals, this number 19 is the best player of the Vietnamese team. At the AFF Cup 2020, with 2 goals and 2 assists, Quang Hai is also the best Vietnamese player in Singapore. Hoang Duc is the player who appeared in 15/15 matches of the team, with 1 goal and 2 assists, this 23-year-old midfielder is the most improved player in 2021. Viettel's number 14 midfielder has become the boss of the Vietnamese national team.

At the AFF Cup 2020, Nguyen Manh played in 5 out of 6 matches of the Vietnamese team, had 3 saves including 1 penalty in the first leg semi-final against Thailand, helping Nguyen Manh become Vietnam's number 1 goalkeeper at this time.

Mission 2022

Closing 2021 with the national team's failure at the 13th AFF Cup in Singapore, we have 4 major events as we enter 2022. First, the Vietnam National Team will play the remaining 4 matches of the 2022 World Cup 3 qualifiers.

Meanwhile, U23 Vietnam will participate in the U23 Southeast Asian Championship in Cambodia (February 14-26, 2022) and the U23 Asian Finals in Uzbekistan (June 1-19). The most special and anticipated is that U22 Vietnam will participate in the 31st SEA Games at home (May 12-23, 2022). Next, the Vietnam Olympic team will participate in the 19th Asian Games in China (September 10-25). And the Vietnamese team will have the opportunity to repay the debt to Thailand when participating in the AFF Cup 2022 (time and location have not been determined).

Many people are concerned that the U22 and U23 Vietnam teams do not have many new faces to supplement the national team. At the 13th AFF Cup in Singapore, Coach Park used 30 substitutions but the reserve players did not score any goals. Apart from Hoang Duc and partly Tan Tai, the next generation does not have a face trusted by the coaching staff while Van Toan, Van Duc, Tuan Anh, Xuan Truong have shown signs of slowing down in terms of expertise. Meanwhile, Thailand and Indonesia have just introduced many impressive young faces at the AFF Cup 2020.