Vietnam National Team: The appearance of the "2008 AFF Cup champion"

Football is a collective sport, so achievements are the result of the efforts of the whole team. But when talking about the 2008 AFF Cup championship, people cannot fail to mention coach H. Calisto, the coach with the greatest achievements in Vietnamese football up to this point. He was the one who discovered "Hai Lua" Phan Van Tai Em, raising the Long An player to become the best central midfielder in Vietnam at that time.

Story 10 years ago

The Vietnamese national team has many traits of the "2008 AFF Cup champion". Photo: Internet

The two Vietnamese players who had a big impact on the 2008 AFF Cup gold medal were Cong Vinh and Minh Chau. For some reason, in the group stage, the Nghe An striker at that time, whether he shot close, long or headed, all went out of the goal. He was quiet for 4 consecutive matches but was still trusted by the Portuguese coach to shine in the final match against Thailand.

What kind of courage must coach H. Calisto have to ignore public opinion, put all his trust in Cong Vinh and this beloved student did not disappoint his trust. His extensive experience in coaching understood Cong Vinh's desire to score even though Quang Hai, Viet Thang and Thanh Binh were all ready in his hands at that time.

Midfielder Minh Chau was the player who was “filled in” quite late. In the group stage, captain Minh Phuong, Tai Em and AFF Cup 2008 were the ones trusted in the first matches.

It was not until the final group stage match against Laos that Coach Calisto gave Minh Chau the opportunity to start instead of Minh Phuong. And the Hai Phong player also stole the starting position from the captain of the Vietnamese team for the rest of the tournament. With his good fighting ability, the Hai Phong player played an extremely important role in the team's midfield in the semi-final match against Singapore and the final match against Thailand.

And finally, not to mention the surprising luck, people still do not understand why Singapore striker Indra Sahdan Daud or Thai strikers Teerathep Winothai and Suchao Nutnum could not score past goalkeeper Duong Hong Son in such delicious situations. But just with a skillful shake of the head in the last minutes of the final match, Cong Vinh brought the Gold Cup back to Vietnam.

Remember today

Currently, we have in our hands Coach Park Hang-seo whose talent has been proven. Only he discovered and took the risk of using left midfielder Van Duc to play right back, something that no Vietnamese coach would think of, let alone dare to use.

The central midfielder pair Xuan Truong and Quang Hai are now copies of Minh Phuong and Tai Em from 10 years ago, "attacking, not defending" and often losing in one-on-one battles.

Mr. H. Calisto is the one who brought the 2008 AFF Cup championship to Vietnam. Photo: Internet

Midfielder Duc Huy of Hanoi appeared in the last match of the group stage, no different from Minh Chau of Hai Phong years ago, they are similar from appearance to playing style. The parameters of 4 successful interceptions and 3 long passes on target are exactly the same as Minh Chau. This "sweeper" plays enthusiastically, chopping and blocking the attacks of Cambodian players like his senior before.

We also have captain Van Quyet who is leaving behind disappointments no less than Cong Vinh. In the group stage of the AFF Cup this time, the captain of the Vietnamese team has no goals, no assists, no headers on target. Of course, Mr. Park Hang-seo is also under no small amount of pressure on whether to continue to trust the most experienced player in the team in the semi-finals and finals.

Of course, Mr. Park Hang-seo is not H. Calisto, so how to use Van Quyet and Duc Huy in the semi-finals, or even the final, is still a secret. Whether we will be as lucky as we were 10 years ago is also a question that no one can answer. But clearly, the Vietnamese team's warm-up steps have similar characteristics to the story that Cong Vinh and his teammates did a decade ago.