Vietnam team's perfect run-up in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers

Thus, Mr. Park and theVietnam teamwon 23, drew 5 matches against Southeast Asian teams, achieving a winning rate of up to 82%.

In fact, Vietnamese audiences were a bit confused before, with a big change on the coaching bench and a rejuvenated squad, coach Shin Tae-Yong and his team had a 2-2 draw against the Thai team. Meanwhile, on the Vietnamese side, midfielder Trong Hoang and goalkeeper Van Lam could not play.

Careful preparation

First of all, I have to say VFF andMr. Parkhad a perfect plan to give Van Duc and his teammates time to practice and get used to the harsh conditions of the UAE. Knowing that the climate at the competition site was hotter than usual, we proactively went to the UAE a week earlier and practiced at high intensity right at the competition time.

To win against Indonesia, the coaching staff and Mr. Park had prepared very well for the players. In history, Vietnam and Indonesia have met a total of 24 times in all competitions. The record was in favor of Indonesia when they had 9 wins, 9 draws, Vietnam only won 6 matches. In the match, the opposing team's players played extremely hard, P.Arhan (5), A.Satria (2) and most of the Indonesian players tackled the ball with great intensity. If referee Al Alii had made the correct call, the number of yellow cards would have been much greater than 5, and there would have even been a red card.

Vietnamese players show their determination to win. Photo: VNA/Vietnamplus

The Vietnamese players, including those who had just returned from injury such as Van Duc, Tuan Anh, Duy Manh, all showed their fighting spirit. Our players calmly dodged attacks, quickly passed the ball to execute the coach's plan, and exhausted the opponent's stamina.

Coach Park studied his opponents carefully through the match with Thailand, exploiting the weaknesses of the Indonesian central defender duo. The goals of Tien Linh and Cong Phuong were all within Coach Park's calculations, after 45 minutes the opposing team had used their strength too early in the hot weather conditions, no longer having enough strength to keep up with the Vietnamese players. Meanwhile, the goals of Quang Hai and Van Thanh showed the superiority in tactical vision and high-speed ball handling techniques of the Vietnamese players.

Flexible, creative on the field

Regarding tactical impressions, in situations of passive substitution when Tuan Anh was injured, or proactively adjusting the playing style from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2 when he had scored, Coach Park showed that he understood Southeast Asian football very well. Van Duc, who had just returned to the team, had a great 61 minutes on the Ai Maktoum field in coordination with Tien Linh, Hong Duy, and Van Toan. Van Duc's running was still flexible and creative on both wings. If he had made good use of the passes from this number 20, Tien Linh could have scored earlier.

Luong Xuan Truong,Cong Phuong, Van Hau entered the field and showed that their sitting on the bench was purely for tactical reasons. The level between the main players and the reserve players of the Vietnamese team under Mr. Park has narrowed significantly.

Vietnam national team players celebrate Quang Hai's goal to increase the score to 2-0. Photo: Bongdaplus.vn

It has been a long time since the Vietnamese team has had a complete victory in terms of preparation, tactical impression, fighting spirit and number of goals scored. For a long time, Indonesian players have been proud of their best physical foundation in Southeast Asian football, but in the last 10 minutes at Ai Maktoum Stadium, they had to "walk with the ball".

The only downside is that Tuan Anh's injury and the yellow card mean that Quang Hai will be absent from the match against Malaysia. But who knows, that could be a lucky sign because we still have an important match with the host UAE, if we want to make it into the list of 12 teams entering the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup. Meanwhile, with the 1-3 loss to the host UAE, Thailand seems to have lost the chance to win the "salvage" ticket for one of the 5 second-place teams with the best results./.