Laos National Team - Vietnam National Team: Training both character and mentality

To confirm their position as a championship candidate and help their players feel confident at the 2018 AFF Cup, Vietnam has no choice but to play proactively. The match schedule allows Mr. Park to gradually adjust the excitement, cohesion between the lines and experiment with positions that the coaching staff deems necessary.

In addition to building a winning style of play, Mr. Park and the coaching staff must build a "psychological state chart" for the team so that they can win without arrogance and lose without discouragement throughout the tournament.

The home team will defend in numbers.

The Laos national team has some notable names such as 'Lao Messi' Soukaphone Vongchiengkham, Chanthaphone Waenvongsoth and Khonesavanh Sihavong. But that is probably not enough to put pressure on our defense, even if we press well, our students willSingaporean coach Varadaraju Sundramoorthy had little chance to attack.

Opportunity for Xuan Truong to regain his ball feeling. Photo: VFF

The clear goal of the Vietnamese team is to win, have no players injured and limit penalty cards. This is the best opportunity for Xuan Truong to regain his ball feeling, when the Lao midfield is not playing too harshly. Trong Hoang will have the opportunity to experience the wing position in the 3-4-3 formation, instead of just a winger like before.

President of the Lao Football Federation (LFF) Viphet Sihachakr believes that Laos can surprise Vietnam and at least get 1 point. However, according to coach Steve Darby, who once led the Laos team, "Coach Sundramoorthy will definitely choose to deploy many players on the home field to resist and wait for set pieces or counterattacks."

The 63-year-old coach made the following comments: "There is no need to argue about a victory for the Vietnamese team, because their physical strength and expertise are better than the Lao team. The home team may hold out until the 60th minute, but after that I believe that Park Hang-seo and his team will still win 3 points." A professional comment from the British coach who understands very well the football scene in the place between East Asia and South Asia.

The lesson is not old

In the last two AFF Cups, we had to stop in the semi-finals in a very disappointing way. At that time, not many people believed that the Malaysian and Indonesian teams could stop us, but it still happened.

In those two AFF Cups, we did not play badly in the group stage, even leading the group stage, but when playing the play-offs, our weak spirit at the decisive moments was once again revealed. In the 2016 AFF Cup, the equalizer 2-2 by an Indonesian player at My Dinh Lestusen Stadium in the 90+7 minute robbed Van Quyet and his teammates of the chance to continue.

Nghe An player Trong Hoang will try his hand at a new position. Photo: VFF

Looking back to 2007, our team also had the second golden generation including Le Cong Vinh, Duong Hong Son, Phan Van Tai Em, Huynh Quang Thanh... The Vietnam team reached the quarter-finals of the 2007 ASIAN Cup, a historic feat at the national team level that no other generation had achieved. The Vietnam Olympic team reached the final qualifying round of the 2008 Olympics. These were all impressive achievements compared to football in other countries in the region.

We thought we would win the SEA Games gold medal, but in the end, after U23 Vietnam fell in the semi-finals to Myanmar on penalties and then collapsed 0-5 to Singapore in the bronze medal match. A much-awaited SEA Games, with sky-high praise from foreign press before the tournament, but in the end, we still came up empty-handed.

Before the match with Laos, everything was quite similar to the 2007 SEA Games, Vietnamese youth football also achieved 2 miracles in the continent, the U23 Asian Cup and the 18th ASIAD. Coach Park Hang Seo and his team were also considered the number 1 candidate for the 2018 AFF Cup championship. The regional press all commented and praised Van Quyet, Cong Phuong and the players of the Vietnamese team to the sky.

Obviously, in addition to the professional factor, creating a stable mentality for the players is necessary in a tournament where pressure and expectations for the team are extremely important. The lesson of the 2007 SEA Games is not old, even if they win big against the Laos team, Coach Park Hang Seo and his team need to know how to keep their feet on the ground if they do not want to fall painfully.

In fact, at the national team level, apart from the AFF Cup championship 10 years ago, we have not made any significant mark.