Vietnam U22 Team: Keep your feet on the ground!

(Baonghean.vn) - Cong Phuong and his teammates received a lot of praise after their convincing victory over the K-League All-Stars team in a friendly match on July 29.

In the post-match press conference, K-League All-Stars coach Hwang Sun-Hong praised the performance of coach Nguyen Huu Thang and his team: “The U22 Vietnam team played such a good match that I could hardly find any weaknesses in the team today. Player Xuan Truong performed well and played impressively. Not only Truong, the entire U22 Vietnam team tried hard for today's match.”

Of course, with a friendly match, coach Hwang Sun-Hong would not be foolish enough to criticize the hospitable home team. But it cannot be denied that the U22 Vietnam team had a great performance against the team from the "Land of Kim Chi".

Van Toan (right) shares joy with teammate Thanh Binh after scoring against the K-League All-Stars Team. Photo: Internet.

The 1-0 victory still seemed too modest compared to what happened in the 90 minutes of the match. The team led by coach Nguyen Huu Thang played somewhat better than the K-League Stars.

As a guest, Coach Hwang Sun-Hong can only use “winged” words for the U22 Vietnam team out of politeness. We do not need to hesitate and analyze further.

However, for someone who is always straightforward when giving assessments like expert Le Thuy Hai, his words cannot be ignored. The former strategist from Ha Dong has repeatedly attacked and criticized national teams, including the current U22 Vietnam team.

However, witnessing the performance of Cong Phuong and his teammates against the K-League All-Stars, Mr. Hai "lo" affirmed: "If the U22 Vietnam team plays like the last match, winning the SEA Games is easy. In the last match against the Korean All-Stars, I saw that U22 Vietnam played very well, the whole team in the first and second half I saw was good. From the goalkeeper to the forward positions, there were almost no shortcomings."

For young players, compliments are always a double-edged sword. They stimulate fighting spirit and create necessary confidence, but they are also the root cause of complacency and underestimation. The lesson of the U23 Vietnam team in the semi-final match against U23 Myanmar at the 28th SEA Games in 2015 is still fresh.

That was a match in which we were rated much higher before the match started, and indeed the team under coach Miura dominated the opponent with a series of opportunities created, the final victory was in the hands of U23 Myanmar. Surely Cong Phuong, Minh Long... still have not forgotten the defeat in Singapore 2 years ago.

Coach Nguyen Huu Thang does not want the media to praise his students excessively. Photo: Internet.

Understanding the negative side of the compliments, coach Nguyen Huu Thang immediately warned his players, saying: “In today’s match, they (the K-League Stars) did not use their full potential. They just flew here yesterday, so there is not much time to adapt.”

The Nghe An strategist did not forget to say: “I hope the media will keep my players grounded a little bit. Winning matches like this will give us confidence, but we are preparing the most realistic steps before the SEA Games. I hope the media will let the players know what they should do and what they should not do.”

Coach Nguyen Huu Thang's worries are completely understandable. The matches at the SEA Games are not as simple as the recent friendly matches. Just one small mistake can cause all the efforts of the U22 Vietnam team to go down the drain.

Therefore, helping his students keep their feet on the ground is one of the most important tasks at this time for coach Nguyen Huu Thang./.

Thanh Hung