Vietnam Futsal Team aims for gold at SEA Games 29

(Baonghean.vn) - Vietnam Futsal TeamAlthough we were able to participate in the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016, winning the 29th SEA Games is still a big challenge. Our biggest opponent is still the Thai team and the schedule arranged by the Organizing Committee is quite difficult.

In 2000, Vietnam and Thailand futsal had the same starting point but due to different approaches, Thailand has now surpassed the continental level, getting closer to the World Cup. Vietnam futsal has surpassed Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia but compared to Thailand, it is still a huge distance.

Meanwhile, host Malaysia has arranged an unfavorable match schedule for us, having to face Thailand in the first match before meeting them.

Look at the club, discuss the team

Thai sports in general and Thai football in particular are always on the right track, focusing on developing grassroots football, youth football, clubs and then considering the national team level.

The Thai futsal team has not yet played, but looking at Chonburi Club participating in the Asian Club Championship that just ended, we can imagine how strong they are in Malaysia.

At the recently concluded Asian Club Championship at home, despite receiving enthusiastic cheers from thousands of fans at Phu Tho Stadium, the Vietnamese champion Thai Son Nam still accepted a heavy 0-6 defeat against Chonburi in the semi-finals. The debt from 2 years ago with Chonburi has piled up both principal and interest.

Coach Rodrigo is the brightest star of the futsal team. Photo: Internet

Chonburi Club, the core of the Thai national team, owns the most elite players in Asian futsal in the squad such as Kritsada, Suphawut, Jirawat. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese futsal team, which is considered the expanded Thai Son Nam, does not have the services of Tayebi or Baptista (2 foreign players in the Thai Son Nam Club squad).

The fact that Chonburi won the championship with a 3-2 victory over the very strong team of Asian futsal powerhouse Iran in the final has given their team a very good mentality when participating in the 29th SEA Games. On the contrary, as coach Rodrigo commented after the semi-final match between Thai Son Nam and Chonburi: "The ability to withstand pressure of Vietnamese players is quite poor".

The Spanish coach frankly told his students: “My players played like shadows today and I believed how scared they were of Thailand. The match was like children playing football with adults.”

Of the remaining 3 opponents Indonesia, Myanmar and host Malaysia, we are clearly one level above them, especially with what happened at the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup finals.

SEA Games Money

Coach Miguel Rodrigo has just called up 21 players to prepare for the gold medal goal at SEA Games 29 and Indoor Games 2017. This time, Coach Miguel Rodrigo called up 6 more players including: Vu Quoc Hung (Hai Phuong Nam Phu Nhuan), Mai Thanh Dat, Nguyen Dinh Y Hoa (S.Khanh Hoa), Khong Dinh Hung, Nguyen Hoang Anh (Sanatech.KH) and Co Tri Kiet (Tan Hiep Hung).

The absence of these 6 players from the training list at the end of June was due to their busy participation with Thai Son Nam Club in the Asian Club Futsal Tournament. The biggest change was in the goalkeeper position when both goalkeepers Vu Van Kha (Thai Son Bac) and Ho Van Y (Thai Son Nam) were not called up.

Vietnam futsal team. Photo: Internet

There is no doubt that Coach Rodrigo is the brightest star of the futsal team, the biggest hope for us to defeat the Thais. He used to coach the Japanese and Thai futsal teams, one of the most famous coaches in Asia at present.

With a force that is not on par with the opponent, in addition to inheriting and developing the playing style of Coach Bruno, Coach Rodrigo must focus more on improving the mentality and increasing the confidence of his students. "I believe that Thai Son Nam and Vietnam futsal can play at the top level. I believe that I will help Vietnam futsal improve the situation every time they face the Thais," Coach Rodrigo declared.

In two weeks, coach Miguel Rodrigo will have to cross out 7 names from the list of 21 players summoned before leaving for Malaysia to attend the 29th SEA Games.

Another subjective difficulty is that the host Malaysia intentionally arranged the schedule for both the men's and women's futsal teams of Vietnam to meet Thailand in the opening match before meeting the next host team. They wanted to "psychologically attack" the Vietnamese futsal teams in order to gain some advantage for themselves.

Simply put, the two Vietnamese futsal teams are identified as the second strongest candidates in the race to the top positions, after Thailand.

An Thanh