North Korean coach: 'We learned a lot from Vietnam'

Jorn Anderson admitted his team had a bad match, but in return, gained a lot of experience.

"This was North Korea's worst match since I took over. Three of the five goals we conceded came from defensive errors," coach Anderson said after North Korea lost 2-5 to host Vietnam. "However, this defeat also helped me realize many things, and the players learned a lot from the Vietnamese team. That is the effectiveness of defensive and counter-attack tactics."

The North Korean team played better than Vietnam in half of the first half, and took the lead. But then, the excellence of players Tuan Anh, Xuan Truong, Van Toan helped Vietnam turn the situation around. "The Vietnamese team was too strong today, their defensive and counter-attacking style of play was too dangerous, making our defense very difficult to defend," said the Norwegian coach.

Mr. Jorn Anderson was disappointed after the match. Photo: Duc Dong.

Coach Anderson also admitted that the North Korean defense was caught up in Vietnam's style of play, leading to mistakes and conceding goals before collapsing. "Vietnam took advantage of our players' individual mistakes to score goals. And those goals gave them the motivation and confidence to play well in the following minutes," he added.

But coach Anderson also complained about the quality of Thong Nhat Stadium. "The pitch today was not really ideal for the players to perform. Our defenders had difficulty turning around, leading to too many mistakes in the match."

The first foreign coach in North Korean football history refused to judge which player on the home side played best. "The Vietnamese players are very even," he said.

North Korea's defense was confused by the small and diverse coordination of the Vietnamese team. Photo: Duc Dong.

Coach Anderson is also not worried about losing his job after losing to Vietnam: "This is just a test friendly match. This defeat does not affect my work. We have to try harder in the next match with the Philippines to regain our dignity."

According to VNE