Vietnam team and the courage of coach Kim Sang-sik

In general, the first leg of the semi-final between Singapore and Vietnam took place with a less attractive match, except for the extra minutes at the end of the second half when the striker pair Tien Linh - Xuan Son excelled with 2 consecutive goals to create a big advantage for the Vietnamese team in the upcoming second leg.

There were some surprises for Mr. Kim for his opponents and Vietnamese fans. The Korean coach did not use Nguyen Fillip in the goal to defend against high balls and play with his feet, but instead trusted Dinh Trieu, so at least once the Hai Phong goalkeeper was confused to clear the ball out of bounds from a pass back from his teammate, but overall this choice was appropriate when Dinh Trieu had good reflexes, coming in and out properly.

Mr. Kim also boldly used the pair of fullbacks Tien Anh - Van Khang, then the pair of central midfielders who are stronger in attack than defense, including Hoang Duc - Quang Hai. On the attack line, Thanh Binh was arranged on the left wing, playing next to Xuan Son and Vy Hao.

The strange thing is that a seemingly attack-oriented squad is mainly defensive.Vietnam team actively play slowly and steadily on their own half, giving the field to their opponents with ball possession time sometimes reaching nearly 70%. This is the way to force their opponents to play football that is not their forte of defense - counter-attack, making them fumble when they have the ball or when making final decisions.

Without Nakamura, the Singapore team mainly used long passes but could not trouble the tight defense of the visitors. In the whole match, the home team only had one time to trouble goalkeeper Dinh Trieu when the home player took advantage of Duy Manh's error in clearing the ball in front of the goal. Fortunately for the Vietnam team, Dinh Trieu had an excellent reflex to push the ball away.

Obviously, Mr. Kim Sang-sik did not field the strongest lineup from the start, nor did he play aggressively to gain an advantage as someone said and seemed ready to accept a draw in the first leg? In the second half, there was a time when the home team was very close to scoring after a series of siege situations even though the away team was using defensive midfielder Ngoc Tan and Xuan Son himself had to clear the ball in the home team's penalty area many times like a real central defender. This is the courage and belief of Mr. Kim Sang-sik to help the Vietnam team stand firm in the storm. From there, the courage and talent of each player, especially the stars, will shine one by one.

Remember, in a dangerous situation in the match against the Philippines, Ngoc Tan equalized after a corner kick in the last minute of extra time. And in a situation where the field was under pressure, also in the extra time, Xuan Son knew how to put pressure on the home defender, forcing him to let the ball touch his hand, giving Tien Linh a chance to open the score. Not only that, when no one expected it, Xuan Son exploded when he seized the opportunity from Xuan Manh's extremely delicate kick to score the second goal.

The Korean coach's mettle has clearly energized and multiplied the will and strength of each individual and the team as a whole. When there is the excellent Xuan Son as well as when there is no naturalized player in the squad, when Xuan Son is surrounded and he is given the fire, the Vietnam team always has many options to put the ball into the opponent's goal.

The names on the golden record board such as Hai Long, Quang Hai, Ngoc Tan, Van Vy, Vi Hao, Tien Linh… prove the “multi-barreled weapon” of the Vietnam National Team. When Xuan Son appears, the creative coordination and increased fighting spirit will make the whole team play tightly, flexibly and achieve outstanding results.

In the two matches with Xuan Son, the Vietnamese team scored a total of 7 goals, without conceding any, in which Xuan Son scored 3 goals and 2 assists, which is a great achievement and will be a big step forward for the Vietnamese team to be able to do great things in the future.

In the upcoming return leg at Viet Tri Stadium, the Vietnamese team has many advantages but cannot be complacent because the opponent will play with higher determination, better quality players and when there is nothing left to lose, the opponent will always be unpredictable. This requires alertness and creativity from Mr. Kim Sang-sik and above all, the courage before the finish line of the coach as well as the whole team.

Believe that Mr. Kim will welcome the Singapore team with surprises, excitement and amazement, as seen before.