Vietnam National Team: Friendly but more than... an official tournament

After friendly matches with moderate opponents such as Hong Kong-China, Syria and Palestine, the Vietnamese team will have to face the top opponents in the continent including the Chinese team, Uzbekistan team and the Korean team. And that is the time when the French coach will have full "data" on personnel in hand to choose and decide on the optimal lineup, to take on the heavy task ahead.

In the list of players called for this training session, Mr. Philippe Troussier made a pleasant surprise to experts and fans not only in Vietnam but also in the continent such as Indonesia and China. That is a series of Mr. Park Hang-seo's favorite students were not named, not only once but twice in the training session: Tien Dung, Thanh Chung, Van Thanh, Hong Duy... and especially Cong Phuong, even though he just scored in the match against the Palestine team recently. Meanwhile, half of the troops called are young players of U23 Vietnam, not only those who regularly played in the recent V-League 1, but also V-League 2.

Of course, the excellent veterans of Mr. Park Hang-seo's time who went through the 2nd and 3rd qualifying rounds of the 2022 World Cup still maintain their high performance such as Van Lam, Ngoc Hai, Duy Manh, Thanh Binh, Van Hau, Tan Tai, Tuan Anh, Hung Dung, Hoang Duc, Van Toan, Tien Linh, Tuan Hai... are still retained and trusted, forming the core for the Vietnam team to conquer the ticket to the 2026 World Cup when the opportunity opens. But it should be added that at the present time, players with high performance are immediately called up such as Dinh Trieu, Tien Anh, Duc Chien... to supplement the number of eliminated players. Among the many young factors from U23 Vietnam, it seems that Mr. Troussier has more confidence in the players who have played since U19 Vietnam such as Van Do, Van Toan, Tuan Duong, Van Khang... but at the same time, many new names have been trusted through the challenge including Van Viet, Van Cuong, Dinh Bac, Thai Son, Duy Cuong and Minh Trong.

Among the young players of Song Lam Nghe An who were called up to U23 Vietnam 1 and 2, Mr. Troussier has long trusted Van Cuong (especially in the Bronze Medal match of SEA Games 32 with 2 beautiful goals) and most recently, goalkeeper Van Viet after his achievement in the U23 Asia qualifiers. In addition, the coach also called up Nam Hai in the context of the National Team's lack of players in training. In the "2nd team" of U23 Vietnam, Xuan Tien and Nguyen Hoang are prominent names but have not yet "caught the eye" of the strict coach to be named in the Vietnam National Team. The reason may be that the midfield and forward lines are already crowded with talent, while Xuan Tien is the type of player who plays his best in the position of organizing midfielder, but often shines when entering the penalty area to score goals and the Vietnam National Team does not operate in the usual way in the 1st team as well as the U teams of Song Lam Nghe An. Meanwhile, Nguyen Hoang is only 18 years old, although he plays very maturely, calling him up too soon is really unnecessary when there are still many opportunities...

As mentioned above, Chinese fans were surprised by the list of the Vietnamese team this time when familiar names that shocked with the 3-1 victory at My Dinh Stadium such as Van Duc, Cong Phuong ... were no longer present. Of course, many young factors are also causing curiosity and attention both at home and abroad. And even though playing with the top teams in the continent, Mr. Troussier still has the right to test the players even though winning or losing is predictable. With the Chinese team not being a real class opponent and in the process of reorganization, surely Mr. Troussier with his understanding of the situation here will know how to play the right cards. In the match against Uzbekistan, an opponent with an ideal physique, playing European style or finally facing a classy Korea with many players shining in Europe, Mr. Troussier will surely see each specific person in each specific position, who is the main player, who is the reserve 1 or 2.

If Mr. Troussier starts with 3 wins for the Vietnam National Team, the next 3 friendly matches will certainly not have the same results, and he and his students will even have to accept a… dark result, especially the match against Korea. But there is success only after failure, as long as no one is discouraged but determined to move forward. Friendly matches are actually more fierce and serious than playing in any official tournament. The failure of the Vietnam National Team in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, of the Vietnam Olympic Teams and U23 Vietnam in continental tournaments has shown a gap between Vietnamese football and the top teams in the continent. Vietnamese football needs to rise up now to be able to compete and squeeze in with teams like China, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, ... not Japan, Korea, Iran and Australia. That said, the "door" of Vietnamese football is quite open, even though Thailand and Indonesia are also rising up no less competitively...

This friendly match is truly the Vietnam National Team "going out and meeting mountains" but we ourselves chose that difficult, lofty path. When and only when fully and correctly determining the inevitable difficult path with great initiative, with a methodical, in-depth approach, with a force rich in fighting spirit, everything will be highly feasible, will go the long way. With Mr. Trousier, now Van Lam can start from the 2nd qualifying round in November, but in the 3rd qualifying round, who knows who will be standing in the goal of the Vietnam National Team will be Dinh Trieu or who knows Van Viet or any other worthy name, not excluding additional forces like Filip Nguyen? And that is truly a good strategist, unpredictable in the face of the strict demands of the reality of the field?