Former player Van Sy Hung: "Vietnam national team will win big against Malaysia"

- Hello Mr. Van Sy Hung, how do you evaluate the performance of the Vietnam Team in the opening match of the AFF Cup 2018?

Former player Van Sy Hung. Photo: NVCC

Honestly speaking, this was not an exciting match, even though our team won. The home team Laos was too weak, the gap between the two teams was too big. The ball was almost at the feet of the Vietnamese team, while the Lao players only knew how to huddle together and defend. Against such a weak opponent, in my opinion, the performance of Coach Park Hang Seo's students was only average. Our team should have won by a bigger margin.

- Is it true that the Vietnamese team has not given their all and is deliberately hiding their cards to fight Malaysia in the upcoming match?

I think not, because in this match, Mr. Park used the familiar 3-4-3 formation, along with his best players. Moreover, the first index to consider the ranking in the group is the goal difference, so it is difficult for the head coach to instruct his players to play cautiously for fear that Malaysia will figure out their moves.

Vietnam national football team won 3-0 against Laos, opening the AFF Cup smoothly. Photo: Internet

The reason why the Vietnamese team did not play impressively against Laos was partly due to the bad pitch. The passes and small passes from Van Quyet and his teammates often did not go as intended.

- In your opinion, who is the best player and who is the worst player of the Vietnam National Team?

All the players of the Vietnam National Team played at an average level or above, not too different from each other. The defense did not have much work to do so it is impossible to evaluate accurately. As for the attack, I think Trong Hoang, Quang Hai and Anh Duc are the most outstanding. Van Quyet and Cong Phuong only played at an average level, not bad but not excellent. Perhaps we have to wait until the match against Malaysia to verify the performance of each player.

PV: What do you think about Malaysia - the upcoming opponent of the Vietnam Team?

Up to now, Malaysian football has always been in the top of the region and is on par with Vietnamese football. Their team and our team are in the process of strong youth development and have also achieved positive results. If I remember correctly, at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship and ASIAD 18, U23 Malaysia also made it to the knockout round. Although they only narrowly won against Cambodia in the opening match, the strength of the other team cannot be underestimated. I think, together with Thailand and Vietnam, they are the 3 strongest candidates at this year's AFF Cup.

PV: Having faced Malaysia at the 1998 Tiger Cup, what do you think is the strongest point in their playing style?

A strong physical foundation, a fierce playing style, not afraid of collision. Watching some matches of Malaysian teams recently, I see that this country's football is changing in a positive direction. Currently, Malaysian football is seeing the emergence of more technical and intelligent players. For example, the player wearing the number 11 shirt (Safawi Rasid - PV).

PV: Can you predict the result of the upcoming Vietnam - Malaysia match?

With home advantage, Coach Park Hang Seo and his team will win all 3 points. If they score the first goal in the first half, the Vietnamese team will beat Malaysia by 2 goals or more. I believe our team will win big against Malaysia.

Thank you for this conversation!