Coach Nguyen Thanh Cong: "Philippines is still very dangerous"

The Vietnam national team started their training session at 7:30 p.m., right at the time tomorrow's match will take place. Photo: TK

Most experts and football fans in the country believe that the Vietnamese team will not face many difficulties in the second leg of the semi-final against the Philippines.

However, coach Nguyen Thanh Cong thinks differently: “Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson and his team are still very dangerous, especially when they are in a situation where they have "nothing to lose". In football, nothing can be predicted, all statistics are for reference only. The Philippines team is capable of making a difference at My Dinh, because they have a world-class coach and a squad of quality players.

Objectively speaking, before entering the second leg of the semi-final, the Philippines team faced more difficulties than the Vietnam team. They had to sit on the plane for longer hours (17 hours compared to 3 hours for Coach Park Hang-seo and his team - PV), and suffered a great loss of personnel.

According to information appearing in the newspapers, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson only has 16 players left. But the biggest disadvantage for the Philippines team is still the 1-2 defeat in the first leg of the semi-final that took place a few days ago. Although there will be many difficulties, I believe that the ticket to the final still belongs to Ngoc Hai and his teammates."

Coach Nguyen Thanh Cong was impressed with the defense of the Vietnam National Team. In the photo: With a strong physical foundation, Trong Hoang accelerated exceptionally in short distances. Photo: TK

Referring to the playing style of the Vietnam national team under coach Park Hang-seo, the strategist born in 1977 commented: “The solidity and stability of the defense is what impresses me most about the current Vietnam national team. Van Lam, Dinh Trong, Ngoc Hai, Duy Manh are proving their talent and class.

Besides, I am also very impressed with Trong Hoang and Van Hau on the two wings. Like the previous matches, in this second leg of the semi-final, the defense will continue to shoulder a great responsibility. Surely, the Philippines team will "play all out" to find a chance to come back."

According to coach Nguyen Thanh Cong, the elimination of the Thai team did not affect the mentality of coach Park Hang-seo and his team much. The captain of Saigon FC shared: “Observing the playing style of the Malaysian team in the two matches against the Thai team, it can be seen that the Malaysians are improving after each match. Meeting them in the final is not a happy thing for the Vietnamese team, as many people think.

Didn't U23 Vietnam lose to U23 Malaysia in the final match at the 2009 SEA Games, even though they easily beat them in the group stage?

The second leg of the semi-final between Vietnam and the Philippines will take place at My Dinh Stadium at 7:30 p.m. today (December 6)./.