Philippines coach believes Vietnam team is at another level
(Baonghean.vn) - The coach of the Philippine national team expressed regret after losing 0-2 to Vietnam, but he also admitted that his opponent was stronger and deserved to win in the opening match of the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup.
Sharing at the press conference after the opening match of the 2026 World Cup qualifying round 2, Mr. Michael Weiss of the Philippines team said:
“Vietnam is a country with a developed football. We are still a little behind. Considering the pressure and the chances in the second half, I think a draw would be more reasonable. But the word “if” is not used in football.
In the last minutes, I hoped that the long ball would bring something, but it created space for the opponent to counterattack, so we lost 0-2. In any case, losing 0-1 or 0-2 is the same and we have to accept it," Coach Michael Weiss commented on the match.
Despite the defeat in the opening match, the German coach affirmed that he was still satisfied with the performance of the players: "We can hold our heads high, because we gave our all on the field. Unfortunately, the team could not apply high-intensity pressure continuously.
My idea was to be tactically smart and not get carried away by the Vietnamese way of playing. We let them play, give them space and take risks with fast players in an already good opposition system. I played against coach Philippe Troussier at the SEA Games and also lost 0-2. We have respect for each other because we both had difficult matches.”
Coach Michael Weiss said the key point was Santiago Rublico's chance between the 70th and 75th minutes. If he had scored, and the energy from the fans in the final minutes had been there, who knows what would have happened to the opponent.
“We should have held Vietnam longer but unfortunately conceded a silly goal from a long ball and we were not good at winning the ball. This kind of game should have been 0-0 at half-time.
The further the game goes, the more we have to attack. But with the age of the Filipino players, we have to be a little careful, even though we had chances in the first 50 minutes.
We couldn't control the game because Vietnam have the right system, young players and are at another level. They are getting closer and closer to the top of Asia.
I also know that they had 6-7 key players missing and still won today. That's a different level, coach Michael Weiss admitted.
“The next match against Indonesia might be a bit more risky. Indonesia will have to travel from Iraq, so it will be tiring. It will also be difficult for them to play on artificial turf, but we are used to it,” the German coach concluded./.
