Coach Miura and his philosophy to change the face of Vietnamese football.

Although they haven't won any specific titles yet, the Vietnamese teams under the Japanese coach have all shown a vibrant and energetic performance.

Coach Toshiya Miura accepted the offer to lead the Vietnamese national team in May 2014. His poor resume and a win rate of only 25% in coaching led many to doubt his abilities. "The VFF is just looking for cheap options," "Vietnamese football should focus on training promising coaches," and "He'll be sacked soon" were just some of the numerous pessimistic assessments of Miura at the time.

Less than a year later, Toshiya Miura had become a household name among Vietnamese fans, earning their affection and admiration for his achievements. The initial skepticism and dismissiveness had faded away.

The mark left by the Japanese coach, with his scholarly appearance, on Vietnamese football is evident through three tournaments: the 17th Asian Games, the 2014 AFF Cup, and the U23 Asian Cup qualifiers. The football philosophies of the Japanese, learned from 20 years of studying Brazilian and German football, were applied by Coach Miura in Vietnam.

Coach Miura rarely smiled and behaved professionally when leading the Vietnamese national teams. Photo: Duc Dong.

The first point in Coach Miura's philosophy is a modern approach to football. Today's football is not a stage for individuals who crave technical displays and dribbling. He revealed this philosophy in an interview with a Japanese newspaper: "A characteristic of players in Southeast Asia is perhaps their aversion to running and defending. The good players here are similar to the good players in Japan 30 years ago – only good at keeping possession. In professional football, this is a cardinal sin."

That's why, in the early days of coaching the Vietnamese Olympic team participating in ASIAD 17 (2014), Coach Miura molded the players into his philosophy. During training sessions, he required the players to only play the ball with one or two touches. As soon as any player touched the ball three times, he immediately yelled at them and stopped the game.

"I know that playing with only one or two touches is very difficult, but the players are forced to do it. In Japan currently, all players play like that. Modern football doesn't allow players to hold the ball for too long," Coach Miura once shared with VnExpress.

Thanks to this, at the 17th Asian Games, the Vietnamese Olympic team played with great confidence against strong opponents. The young players even surprised everyone by defeating the Iranian Olympic team 4-1 and advancing to the round of 16.

This style of play continued to be applied to the national team. As a result, at the 2014 AFF Cup, the Vietnamese team was considered the most attacking and most modern team. The performance of the national team players delighted fans, although the loss in the second leg of the semi-final against Malaysia was a major shock.

Coach Miura often runs 20 laps around the field during training sessions, earning the admiration of his players. Photo: Duc Dong.

Coach Miura's modern philosophy is also clearly demonstrated in the area of ​​physical fitness. Coach Miura requested the VFF to hire a Japanese fitness expert to assist the players. The players also had to endure strenuous training sessions. In the U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, many players suffered injuries due to the high-intensity physical training exercises implemented by Coach Miura. Many experts even criticized the Japanese coach.

However, despite heavy pressure from public opinion, the Olympic team's performance in Malaysia proved the rightness of Coach Miura's judgment. Ultimately, the result is what matters. The Vietnamese Olympic team ran faster than even the physically fit Malaysian Olympic team. The schedule of one match every two days did not affect the young players, thanks to their prior training intensity.

Former Vietnamese national team player Cong Vinh once praised coach Miura's philosophy to VnExpress after the success of the Vietnamese Olympic team at the 17th Asian Games: "The Vietnamese Olympic players performed well partly because of their improved physical fitness. They ran tirelessly, maintaining a high intensity of activity from the beginning to the end of the match. This was largely thanks to coach Miura's timely and flexible application of a very scientific physical training program."

"Football is a team sport" is the philosophy that coach Miura has instilled in his players throughout the past year. This is perhaps the most important thing that Vietnamese fans hope to see when the national team is led by a Japanese coach. "One Vietnamese is better than one Japanese. Three Vietnamese are not equal to three Japanese" is an old saying that illustrates how strong the Japanese spirit is in unity.

After the pressure subsided, a smile finally appeared on the Japanese coach's face. Photo: Duc Dong.

That's why when Vietnamese media praised Cong Vinh or, more recently, Cong Phuong, Coach Miura seemed annoyed. "Why do you keep asking me about Cong Phuong? Today he played well, moved around a lot, and was sharp in scoring goals. But today's victory is the achievement of the whole team, not just Cong Phuong." Coach Miura lost his temper while answering an interview question after the 2-1 win against Olympic Malaysia in the U23 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Reaching the Round of 16 at the 17th Asian Games with a 4-1 victory over Olympic Iran. Reaching the semi-finals of the AFF Cup with a committed style of play. Qualifying for the 2016 AFC U23 Championship finals. These are three achievements that Coach Miura has brought to Vietnamese football after nearly a year in charge. Vietnam still hasn't won any championships, but the face of Vietnamese football is changing in a positive direction thanks to the arrival of the Japanese coach.

"After 300 days working in Vietnam, I find this place wonderful. The people are sincere and warm-hearted. I hope I can stay in this country for a long time," Coach Miura expressed his love for Vietnam.

According to VNE