Vietnam National Team before the match against Malaysia: Sideline attack and missing Phan Van Duc

At the very least, if they want to continue to the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia, they need to have 11 points. After 2 matches, the Malaysian team has 4 points, while the host Vietnam has 1 point after a draw with Thailand. If they do not win, both Vietnam and Malaysia will have a hard time continuing, even with a consolation ticket.

Both the visitors and the hosts want 3 points.

Whether he wants it or not, Mr. Tan Cheng-Hoe must calculate to get 3 points with a massive attacking style, the style of "using force to overwhelm" as he did in the first leg of the 2018 AFF Cup final at Bukit Jalil Stadium. However, when to unleash all his strength when playing away from home is a calculation that Mr. Tan must consider very carefully.

At Bukit Jalil, Mr. Park surprisingly left all the Vietnamese players with the best individual skills at that time on the bench. People could see Van Quyet, Van Toan, Cong Phuong, Anh Duc sitting on the field. The central midfield pair were Huy Hung and Duc Huy - players who like to shoot from long range, not Hung Dung as usual.

Midfielder Van Toan is the player with the best speed in the Vietnam national team at present. Photo: FPT

Considering the situation of being pressured by the opponent from the beginning, how to score a goal is extremely important. Mr. Park has carefully studied the defensive counter-attacking style of SLNA and Van Duc. It is not simply that Van Hau used a long pass of nearly 30m for Van Duc to accelerate, then pass back to the second line to score.

If Huy Hung's first goal in the 22nd minute was a deliberate attack, Duc Huy's goal 3 minutes later bore the Korean coach's tactical mark. The Malaysian team was considering a defensive plan against flank attacks when Van Duc sneaked into the middle to create a wall and passed the ball back to Duc Huy to score in the middle.

This was a match where if Duc Chinh had been excellent, Van Duc would have had a hat-trick of assists at Bukit Jalil Stadium. But just like that, Van Duc became a name that haunted the home fans of Malaysia, indirectly causing them to lose the AFF Cup 2018 championship. SLNA's typical style of play in recent seasons will be effective if the passer and the winger play well together.

The sideline and the memory of Van Duc

Certainly at My Dinh Stadium, the home team players will also find it difficult to organize possession, deploy a close-range style of play, and pressure the opponent. In all 3 recent matches against Malaysia (including 2 matches at My Dinh Stadium), we played defensive counter-attacks, taking less to attack more, requiring fast players and accurate passes.

When Van Duc is injured and cannot play, which player will make a difference for the Vietnam National Team is a big problem that Mr. Park needs to solve. Surely this must be a player with speed, good coordination with teammates with unique passes and high creativity. Currently, Mr. Park has quite good passers such as Tuan Anh, Anh Tuan, Xuan Truong, the problem is who will replace Van Duc?

Phan Van Duc on the training ground. Photo: Nhu Dat

The player, originally from Lam Dong, born in 1993, then left the team's training session due to a torn thigh muscle and needed to stay off the field for at least a week to recover. With a long history of injuries, the one-time talent of Vietnamese football has missed many major tournaments.

The second person who can perform this attack is Van Toan. Along with Nghiem Xuan Tu (Than Quang Ninh), this number 9 of HAGL is one of the wing midfielders who can sprint like an athlete. However, Van Toan's playing style is more complicated than Van Duc's, so the effectiveness is not high.

The third person is Trong Hoang, a former SLNA player. Recently, the quality of his crosses has improved, so this midfielder can completely handle this task.