Vietnam Team - China Team: A 'once in a century' opportunity

More than ever,Vietnam teamare having a very favorable opportunity to win the first victory against the Chinese team. Besides the advantage of playing at home, coach Park Hang-seo and his team are also having a very high determination, even though they just lost to the Australian team with a heavy score of 0 - 4. But to be fair, it was an "acceptable" defeat.

With what they showed in the second half of the away match against the Australian team, Nguyen Quang Hai and his teammates deserved to leave the AAMI Stadium (Melbourne) with at least 1 goal. Unfortunately, the shots of Pham Tuan Hai, Nguyen Cong Phuong or Nguyen Thanh Chung were either inaccurate or were miraculously saved by Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan.

However, it should be noted that in the match against the Australian team, the Vietnamese team took the field with many reserve players. In fact, many new faces were present in the starting lineup of the Vietnamese team for the first time in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers such as Pham Xuan Manh, Le Van Xuan, Pham Tuan Hai. It was not until the home team was 2 goals behind that Coach Park Hang-seo sent Nguyen Hoang Duc, Nguyen Cong Phuong and Nguyen Phong Hong Duy onto the field.

. The Vietnamese team (red shirts) had an impressive second half against the Australian team. Photo: VFF

Certainly, in the match to welcome the Chinese team, Coach Park Hang-seo will field the strongest lineup with the return of the striker duo Nguyen Van Toan - Nguyen Tien Linh. Especially, under the cheers of tens of thousands of home fans, Coach Park Hang-seo's students will play with over 100% of their ability, just like in the 3 matches against the Australian team, the Japanese team and the Saudi Arabia team.

On the other side of the front line, the Chinese team is also in a situation that is not much brighter. The change on the coaching bench has not helped the Chinese team play better. From defense to attack, everywhere there are shortcomings. Witnessing the 0-2 loss to the Japanese team, it can be affirmed that the Chinese team under new coach Li Xiaopeng is too dependent on the main striker Wu Lei.

The Chinese team just lost to the Japanese team 0-2 on their home field. Photo: Getty

Furthermore, being defeated by the Japanese team in the 7th match on January 27th, the Chinese team was almost eliminated from the race for 3rd place in Group B - the position to participate in the play-off (3 points behind the Australian team - the team holding 3rd place, while the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia has only 3 matches left). Obviously, coming to Vietnam this time, the Chinese team did not have the best spirit.

Based on the current situation of the two teams, the Chinese team is not rated as highly as the Vietnamese team in terms of the chance of winning, especially since Nguyen Quang Hai and his teammates will be playing at My Dinh Stadium. There will be nothing more wonderful for the country's football fans than the Vietnamese team defeating the Chinese team on the first day of the new year. This is a task within the reach of Coach Park Hang-seo and his team./.