Vietnam national team 0 - 1 Iraq (evening of March 29): Satisfied with everything except the result

(Baonghean.vn) - Coach Huu Thang and his team had a brave match on away ground. Although they lost 0 - 1, fans can be satisfied with the team's tactics and determination.

The first surprise is that Duy Manh, not Hoang Thinh, is the one that coach Huu Thang trusts in the role of defensive midfielder in the 4-1-4-1 formation.

Iraq also left captain Younis Mahmoud on the bench with the determination to play a game that will wear down the opponent first.

Despite playing with great effort, the Vietnamese team still could not create a surprise against Iraq. (Photo: VNO)

Knowing the intention of the opposing team, the coaching staff of the Vietnamese team decided to proactively play defensive counter-attacks to counter the physical style of play based on high speed of the opponent. Meanwhile, his colleague Abdul Ghani Shahad, although only in charge of the team for a few days, has studied the Vietnamese team very carefully.

In the midfield, whenever Xuan Truong and Tuan Anh received the ball, they were separated by the Iraqi midfielders, unable to adjust the ball. The trio Duy Manh, Xuan Truong, and Tuan Anh kept moving but they still could not connect because the opponent played quite aggressively.

As we had predicted, the Vietnamese team was suspended on the right wing because Adnan and Ismail had quite fast dribbling speed. Coach Huu Thang analyzed for his players the statistics that 4 out of 6 goals conceded by Iraq were in the period from minute 80 to 86 of the match when this West Asian team was forced to attack.

To do that, we need to maintain enough physical strength and concentration, avoid losing first, but in the end, the Vietnamese players could not do that. The team was pushed down, Cong Vinh also had to retreat to participate in defense, so throughout the first half, this striker only had 1 shot in the sky. Meanwhile, the Iraqi team made 6 shots, 4 of which were on target and 1 of which became a goal at the end of the first half.

As we had predicted, Xuan Truong and Tuan Anh were not physically fit enough to play the full 90 minutes. At the beginning of the second half, Coach Huu Thang pushed Ngoc Hai up to play as a central midfielder to take advantage of the Nghe An player's long-range pass, and the team switched to a 4-4-2 formation to ensure safety in the central area.

Dinh Tung was brought onto the field to take advantage of his ability to break into the 16.5m box in order to earn a free kick. This striker from Thanh Hoa had a pretty good move, if he was lucky, he could have scored the equalizer in the 90+3 minute.

In the last 15 minutes of the match, the Iraqi team took the initiative to slow down the game to preserve the score, with the appearance of Hoang Thien, the Vietnamese team switched from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 formation to try to find an equalizer. But clearly, the extensive experience helped the Iraqi team players to still control the game.

Iraqi players celebrate the opening goal.

It must be said that in the second half, the Vietnamese team did not lose any more thanks to the great contribution of goalkeeper Nguyen Manh when he blocked the shots of Ali Adnan and Karrar. Even in the extra minutes, the Iraqi players still launched hammer-like shots towards the Vietnamese team's goal.

A match in which the Vietnamese team played a bit worse and eventually lost to Iraq with a minimum score of 0-1, but for the Vietnamese fans, they were still the winners. Simply, our players are improving with each match.

Starting lineup:

Iraq:Hachim, Naji, Ismael, Kadhim, Abdullah, Shakir, Abdulzehra, Shiltagh, Kadhim, Adbulameer, Al-Lami.
Vietnam:Nguyen Manh, Dinh Luat, Ngoc Hai, Van Thanh, Dinh Hoang, Duy Manh, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh, Thanh Luong, Van Toan, Cong Vinh.

AT

Technique: Phan Minh