Expert Nguyen Thanh Vinh: "Vietnam will go deep in the 2019 Asian Cup"

PV:Many people believe that Coach Park Hang-seo and his team will not have a chance to go far in the 2019 Asian Cup. What is your opinion?

Coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh. Photo: Internet

- I think on the contrary, our team has a great opportunity to repeat the achievement at the Asian Cup nearly 12 years ago (passing the group stage). Even with the current personnel, form and especially under the direction of Coach Park Hang-seo, the hope of the Vietnam Team going far in this tournament is not small. What the U23 Vietnam team did at the U23 Asian Cup and the 18th Asiad is the basis for us to believe in that.

Coach Park Hang-seo. Photo: TK

It is true that compared to the AFF Cup 2018, the fierceness of the Asian Cup 2019 is much greater. This is a continental playground, so the opponents that Coach Park Hang-seo and his team are about to face are of very high caliber. Apart from the Yemen team, which is an unknown, the two remaining teams in the group, Iraq and Iran, are both much stronger than our team.

However, in football there are always surprises. The team that is rated higher does not necessarily win. If that were the case, football would no longer be worth watching. Do not forget that in the past, Vietnamese teams have defeated teams from West Asia. Typically, at the U23 Asian Cup, held in China in early 2018.

PV:By eliminating Van Quyet and Anh Duc to trust young players, is coach Park Hang-seo taking the Asian Cup lightly, sir?

The Vietnamese team had their first training session in Qatar. The weather and field conditions were very favorable for the Vietnamese team. Photo courtesy

- Absolutely not. Mr. Park did not bring these two experienced players to the UAE, which was absolutely correct. Simply, the playing style and age of Van Quyet and Anh Duc are not suitable for an arena like the 2019 Asian Cup - which requires agility and strength of the players. We cannot compete with the opposing players in terms of physical strength, but we can win in terms of maneuvering and maneuvering ability. Therefore, Duc Chinh, Tien Linh or Van Duc... will be more effective than the two seniors mentioned above.

At the 2004 Asian Cup qualifiers (held in late 2002 - late 2003), I also expressed my wish to Minister Nguyen Danh Thai to use the U23 team to participate instead of the Vietnam team. And it was approved. The results we achieved were extremely exciting. Although we did not win a ticket to the finals, the Vietnam team with young faces such as Van Quyen, Tuan Phong, Huu Thang, Quoc Vuong... had a resounding victory over the Korean team (1 - 0) with a series of players who had just won fourth place at the 2002 World Cup.

PV:According to you, does the absence of central defender Dinh Trong greatly reduce the defensive strength of the Vietnam National Team?

The Vietnamese team celebrates victory at the AFF Cup 2018. Photo: Document

- Of course, but not significantly. It is true that Dinh Trong is the leading central defender of Vietnamese football at the moment, his absence is a big loss for our team at this year's Asian Cup. However, coach Park Hang-seo still has many good central defenders such as Ngoc Hai, Duy Manh, Thanh Chung, Tien Dung... Surely, Mr. Park has found a worthy face to replace Dinh Trong.

In my opinion, Coach Park Hang-seo will arrange Ngoc Hai to play in the central defender position. Because the player from Nghe An possesses the necessary qualities of a top central defender. Besides his aerial ability, Ngoc Hai is also good at reading situations and is quite good at one-on-one combat. Furthermore, Ngoc Hai also possesses the ability to launch attacks with highly accurate cross-field passes. I believe Ngoc Hai will continue to have a successful tournament with the Vietnam National Team.

PV:Thank you for this conversation!