Two 'holes' of Vietnamese football

(Baonghean.vn) - Vietnamese football still has a lot of work to do, including two "holes" that have been mentioned many times by the press and fans. Those are the positions of "captain" of the VFF and the "goalkeeper" of the national teams.

With a capable “vice-captain”, one can still steer the ship to the nearest port, but without a talented captain, the ship will not have a journey across the ocean. The story of Vietnamese football is happening exactly like that, VFF Vice President Tran Quoc Tuan is struggling with a mountain of work for the last 6 months of his term.

Thinking about VFF house

"VFF house" has been ownerless for nearly 3 years now. Photo: Internet

Needless to say, the working position of more than half of the term of VFF President Le Hung Dung (2014-2018) was at the hospital, not at the headquarters. It will not be until March 2018 that we will know who the new VFF President is, from now until then there will be many surprises.

It is not that Permanent Vice President Tran Quoc Tuan is not capable of doing his job, but it is natural that when “the name is not right, the words are not right”. There have always been disagreements around the “VFF house” which has been absent for nearly 3 years, which has greatly affected the development of Vietnamese football. The matter will be much more complicated when on September 12, Mr. Duc will officially withdraw from the position of Vice President of VFF.

Looking at football in other countries in the region, the election of football federation positions is much simpler. They can be military generals or police officers, as long as they meet practical requirements and if they cannot do so, they voluntarily leave their positions. Even Ms. Watanya Wongopasi, who just won the SEA Games 29 gold medal with the U22 Thai players in an impressive way, was still replaced by the Football Association of Thailand (FAT).

…And the goalkeepers

Vietnamese football history has witnessed the "reluctant" goalkeeper Que Ngoc Hai after the mistake of goalkeeper Nguyen Manh. Photo: Dung Nguyen

In the past, Vietnamese football has always produced many famous goalkeepers such as Phan Van Rang, Tran Van Khanh, Vo Van Hanh... so that people praise them "flying like Khanh, hitting like Kim"... But in recent years, goalkeepers have been a nightmare for fans every time they witness rather silly goals.

In the second leg of the AFF Cup 2016 semi-final, Nguyen Manh became the “sinner” leading to the defeat of the Vietnam team against Indonesia. He kicked an opponent and received a direct red card. The Vietnam team played with one less player and then regretfully stopped.

In the previous AFF Cup, in the match between Vietnam and Indonesia in the group stage, when the home team was leading 2-1, goalkeeper Nguyen Manh let the ball "thread the needle" after an Indonesian player's low and powerful shot, helping the away team equalize 2-2.

Phi Minh Long had a SEA Games to forget. Photo: Internet.

Goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung made a mistake that led to the loss of U22 Vietnam to U22 Korea in the 2018 U23 Asian qualifiers. This was the mistake that made coach Huu Thang not choose Dung for the 29th SEA Games but replace him with Minh Long. Minh Long's turn with 2 silly mistakes led to regrettable goals, causing U22 Vietnam to be eliminated from the group stage of the 29th SEA Games by Thailand.

Recently, in the match between U18 Vietnam and U18 Brunei at the 2017 U18 Southeast Asian Championship, when the score was 2-0, goalkeeper Truong Thai Hieu had a careless move when he passed the ball to the opponent player and gave the other team a free goal, narrowing the score to 1-2. Although U18 Vietnam had a big 8-1 victory over Brunei, goalkeeper Thai Hieu's mistake made fans worried. The opponent was not strong, had a relaxed mentality but still conceded a goal due to basic mistakes, which is a level 3 warning for the goalkeeper training of the clubs.

In the life of a “goalkeeper”, it is difficult for any goalkeeper not to make mistakes on the pitch, even Lev Yashin - the goalkeeper of all time still has strange moves. But in a short time, goalkeepers of both the youth and national teams make elementary mistakes, which is alarming. Perhaps, in addition to the quality of training, the lack of practice matches makes goalkeepers lack the necessary confidence when putting on gloves and standing in the goal.

Without a good striker, the team can still have good results, but without a good goalkeeper, football history has never had a champion. That is a fact that Vietnamese coaches and football managers must face and solve!

AT