Vietnam National Team: 'Hitting the ceiling' and the ability to surpass it

On the field, the experienced opponent in this big playground should enter the match with enough troops and forces to impose the playing style first.Vietnam National Teamimmature in all aspects. Perhaps the physical condition and fitness are the first reasons that make the Vietnam team disadvantaged when playing high balls, but even when not disadvantaged, Coach Park Hang-seo and his team still face difficulties when the opponent always has top-class stars that make it difficult for the defense of the number 1 team in Southeast Asia. Wu Lei (China), Isslam (Oman)... are the types of players who always know how to prove their superiority against a team that is playing on a big stage for the first time like the Vietnam team.

Tien Linh scored for the Vietnamese team in the match against Oman. Photo: AFF

Off the pitch, when VAR technology is applied, it seems that the Vietnamese national team always suffers from disadvantages or bad luck. The biggest reason is that V. League does not have VAR yet, the players are not used to it, so when entering the match, they bring out their "lowland" qualities and kick their feet and hands, and getting beaten by VAR is inevitable.

At this point, we must also see another fact that the opponent's technical area is full of high-class figures compared to Mr. Park Hang-seo and his team. Mr. Park has a resume as assistant head coach of the Korean national team at the 2002 World Cup, head coach of the Korean U23 team at the 2002 Busan ASIAD, resounding success with the Vietnamese national team, U23 Vietnam, but compared to the head coach of Oman, Mr. B. Ivankovic is a different story. That person was also an assistant to the head coach of the Croatian team that won 2nd place in the 1998 World Cup, was the one who defeated Mr. Park at the 2002 Busan ASIAD in the semi-finals, then won the gold medal for the Iranian team, and then led the Iranian team to the 2006 World Cup finals.

Or we can talk about Coach Li Tie of the Chinese National Team, who may not have a "record" as sparkling as Mr. Park, but this is a player who used to play in the English Premier League. When facing each other, Mr. Li Tie is young but appears very experienced, not overwhelmingly attacking the Vietnamese National Team, but trying to "lure" the opponent to push up and then kick the ball long, using speed and endurance to score. Then it is the high ball trick poured into the opponent's weakest spot, repeated over and over again but still effective as usual...

To say that the Vietnamese team has exerted all its strength in the recent matches, but that is not enough when playing on a big field, facing a big opponent and countless new things never seen before on and off the field. The will of each individual and of a collective is necessary, but if the capacity reaches the "threshold", everything will only stop at "commendation", "recognition", and the result is a distant story.

Maybe the ability of some players is continuously discovered, upgraded, and proven through each match such as Hoang Duc, Trong Hoang, Tien Linh, Quang Hai, and to some extent Tan Tai, but also through each match many players seem to have reached the "ceiling" or are below the ceiling such as Tan Truong, Ngoc Hai, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh, Van Duc, Duc Huy, Hong Duy, Van Thanh, Van Toan...

This shows that if the Vietnam National Team wants to continue to do something in the continental arena, to maintain its position in the region, it must review and supplement its forces as soon as possible. Mr. Park Hang-seo once revealed that many players were called up but could not meet the requirements, so they had to be sent back. That's right, but among the players who have played well in the V. League for a long time but for some reason have not been called up, will they be tested here? Will those who are considered "not suitable for the playing style" of the national team be trained to really change to suit or not?

The fact that Mr. Park boldly promoted young U23 Vietnam players to the Vietnam National Team and put them on the field like Thanh Binh, then sent them back early because of mistakes made by both the teacher and the students, should be accepted and corrected when it is clear that the Vietnam National Team always needs freshness and enthusiasm from young, upcoming talents.

And what needs to be said early and immediately is the attitude of each player when playing on the continental stage. The fact that the Vietnam team has received too many penalties recently is the most expensive lesson that must definitely be abandoned. Except for situations of force majeure, meaningless jumping and pushing in the penalty area, unnecessary and harmful arm swings, childish arguments... all deserve to be properly "disciplined" by the referee, by internal judgment, by public opinion... so that they cannot happen in any playground, in any situation...

Adding a lot of positive energy to the new journey, while eliminating unnecessary mistakes will help the Vietnam National Team gradually grow up, mature, and have enough strength to "stand shoulder to shoulder" and "stretch" to achieve new feats at the continental level. Difficult, very difficult, but it is imperative to do and do well, to avoid the "mistakes" of our neighbor Thailand? There have been many factors that have "hit the ceiling" but the Vietnam National Team must know how to "surpass the ceiling"!!!