Vietnam National Team: When the 'best version' returns

But that was in the distant past, whenVietnam National Teamgradually climbed to the top of the region, and the recent 3-0 victory is considered the most impressive victory of the Vietnam National Team, and at the same time the most impressive defeat of the Malaysia National Team. The wind has changed direction and 6 consecutive matches of all wins and draws show that the Malaysia National Team is no longer the "nemesis" of the Vietnam National Team, this team even belongs to a "different class", inferior to the Vietnam National Team in recent years.

To be fair, if the Malaysian team did not have problems with their squad (players infected with Covid-19, injuries, internal turmoil, not playing regularly...), the match between the two teams would be more intense, even though on the coaching bench, Mr. Park Hang-seo is always the one who "bullies" Malaysian coach Tan Cheng Hoe. Even in this match, Mr. Park Hang-seo also knew how to "distract the east, attack the west" continuously, making Mr. Tan Cheng Hoe's team not know where to go? That was when the Vietnamese team players continuously "poured oil" behind the Malaysian team's defense, combining small, smooth kicks, forcing the opponent to be unable to predict and keep up with the situation.

Quang Hai continued to be an impressive player in this match. Photo: Internet

In that hopeless pursuit, the Malaysian team lost their most important players one after another, causing the thin force to be stretched and inevitably collapse. Let's look at Quang Hai's goal situation: the question is why was midfielder Tuan Anh present near the corner flag to pass back to his teammate to score? It was not only Tuan Anh's talent when playing freely but also Coach Park's intention when continuously stretching the opponent's defense to find space to pass the ball and break through from the second line of the Vietnamese team.

In that same phase, the Vietnamese team had two scoring options, Van Duc and Quang Hai, and both had equal chances. Just a moment was enough for Van Duc to realize that the ball went to Quang Hai in a more favorable position, and fans saw his goal-scoring shot, a "scenario" repeated in the opening match of the third qualifying round against Saudi Arabia not long ago.

Many people imagine that the Vietnamese team is both good at defense and counterattack, but also has to accept defense and counterattack when going through the World Cup qualifiers, so now when playing aggressively, they will not be proficient? Moreover, before the match, Mr. Tan Cheng Hoe "threatened" Mr. Park with a surprise that everyone guessed, which was that they would play low, defend, and counterattack to finish off the opponent? In reality, Mr. Park "read" the opponent easily to proactively play aggressively, attack in a variety of ways, with many points, many moves... then all the opponent's plans quickly fell apart. Tuan Anh played extremely well in the midfield and this is the best version of the talented midfielder who has been unlucky with the Vietnamese team for a long time.

Celebration of Vietnamese players. Photo: Internet

Besides, Hoang Duc is more than capable of stopping all the opponent's plans in the midfield area, ready to switch from a superb ball holding and pulling phase to then open up a series of opportunities: a pass like in the match against Laos and if necessary, a series of dribbling movements to finish with the left foot, which has been in place since the 2018 SEA Games and is still as effective today as the goal that increased the score to 3-0 to finish the opponent in the match against Malaysia.

When the center is secured by Tuan Anh - Hoang Duc, the defenders have enough time to protect the goal and pass the ball to launch an attack if possible; the two wings have the opportunity to move up to exploit the space near the corner flag to cross the ball or penetrate the penalty area and especially the strikers are never "hungry" for the ball like Cong Phuong "enjoyed" in this match. Of course, it seems that at this time, Tien Linh has not reached his inherent form and sometimes the Vietnam team still reveals some shortcomings, although goalkeeper Nguyen Manh calmly fixes them.

Returning to the region, the Vietnam team is gradually showing the necessary strength to prove its leading position. The match against the Malaysian team is an answer and surely the Indonesian and Thai people are forced to review their recent arrogant and subjective statements when meeting Mr. Park and his team again?