Vietnam National Team's strikers: 'I know, it's hard, you keep saying it!'

1. The 0-0 draw against the Indonesian team contributed to the team'sCoach Park Hang-seohad to finish in 2nd place in Group B. It is worth mentioning that in the 90 minutes of competition with the Indonesian team, the players of the Vietnamese team completely controlled the game (70% possession) and launched 21 shots towards the opponent's goal. Unfortunately, all of them just stopped at the opportunity level.

The strikers of the Vietnam National Team (in white shirts) just had a disappointing AFF Cup. Photo: The Vu - VNA

At the end of the group stage, the Vietnamese team had a total of 80 shots, ranking second after the Thai team (84 shots). However, only 18 of those shots were on target by Nguyen Quang Hai and his teammates. This achievement of the Vietnamese team was even worse than the Cambodian team (24 shots). Obviously, the Vietnamese team's strikers had a problem with their "aiming".

As the fans in the country were worried, Coach Park Hang-seo and his team were eliminated by the Thai team in the semi-finals. Besides bad luck, individual mistakes and unfavorable decisions from the referee team, the harmlessness of the attack was the main reason why the Vietnamese team had to stop early. After more than 180 minutes of not being able to shake the Thai team's net, it was enough to show how weak the Vietnamese team's attack was.

2. Witnessing the decline in form of Nguyen Tien Linh, Phan Van Duc or Nguyen Van Toan, the inconsistency of Nguyen Cong Phuong and the familiar dullness of Ha Duc Chinh, experts and Vietnamese football fans could not help but feel disappointed. "Little swallows" like Nguyen Hoang Duc and Nguyen Quang Hai are not enough to take the Vietnamese team to fly high and far at the AFF Cup 2020.

Nguyen Quang Hai (No. 19) is a rare bright spot in the attack of the Vietnam National Team at the AFF Cup 2020. Photo: Leo Shengwei

In fact, this has been a burning issue for the Vietnam National Team for a long time. Coach Park Hang-seo himself has tried to renew the attack line to avoid being predicted by opponents, but he was "powerless". The simple reason is that the Korean strategist does not have many quality options in the striker position. But "without flour, how can you make glue"?

In a press conference, Coach Park Hang-seo once lamented: "We must have a youth training development system, with many generations and stages, combining from many sides. For 4 years, Vietnamese strikers have had almost no more good quality players. After Nguyen Anh Duc, Nguyen Tien Linh and Ha Duc Chinh, the Vietnamese team has many strikers but no one is better". Therefore, to completely cure the "incurable disease" of the Vietnamese team's attack, Coach Park Hang-seo alone is not enough./.