Vietnam U20 coach before match against France U20: 'I prepare my students with the spirit of victory'

(Baonghean.vn) - At 3:00 p.m. on May 25, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan's students will have an extremely difficult match with the championship candidate, U20 France.

Echoes after the draw with U20 New Zealand

The draw against U20 New Zealand on the opening day helped U20 Vietnam set a record of "The first team in Southeast Asia to score points at the World Cup". This is something that Hoang Anh Tuan and his team in particular, and Vietnamese football in general, are extremely proud of.

To be fair, U20 Vietnam still deserved to win, if the strikers were more accurate in scoring chances, and the referee did not deny a clear penalty for a handball in the penalty area by a defender from U20 New Zealand.

U20 France (blue shirt) is a strong candidate in this tournament. Photo: Internet.

It was that draw in a winning position that made coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team and the country's football fans believe in the ability of U20 Vietnam to win a ticket to the next round. Having 4/6 teams ranked 3rd in each group with the best results to participate in the round of 16 will help U20 Vietnam have more opportunities to become 1 of the 16 strongest teams of the tournament.

Based on the current situation of the groups, Quang Hai and his teammates only need to gain 3 more points to secure a ticket to the knockout round. Of course, for that to become a reality, U20 Vietnam must overcome U20 France or U20 Honduras.

Sharing with the press after the training session of U20 Vietnam on May 23, head coach Hoang Anh Tuan said: “Vietnam has two more matches, against France and Honduras. Of course, we have to calculate and choose our opponents. France is the strongest in Group E, they have many players who won the European U19 Championship last year and are a strong candidate for the U20 World Cup championship this year.

I don't want to talk much about them, that's not good for my students. We can lose but it certainly won't be as easy as Honduras. I'm even preparing my students with a winning spirit when entering the match. Football must have the spirit of winning and losing, the desire to win."

It is inevitable to lose, but the question is how to lose.

Having said that, coach Hoang Anh Tuan certainly had his own plans. There was no way the strategist from Khanh Hoa would instruct his players to fight to the death against U20 France.

In terms of force balance, U20 Vietnam is far behind its counterparts from the old continent. No matter how optimistic or how hard they try, the gap between U20 Vietnam and U20 France is huge. In a match where the possibility of winning points is almost impossible, of course U20 Vietnam will play cautiously to save energy for the vital battle with U20 Honduras in the final match of the group stage.

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan understands that better than anyone.

However, with the national honor that U20 Vietnam is shouldering, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan does not dare to 'give the green light' for his students to play weakly, regardless of what the opponent wants to do. Under the guidance of the coach born in 1968, U19 Vietnam and now U20 Vietnam always show a resilient and strong fighting spirit.

The goal that coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his students aim for in the match against U20 France is nothing more than "...We can lose but it certainly won't be as easy as Honduras". In short, losing the match is inevitable, it's just a matter of choosing how to lose. This depends on the specific calculations of coach Hoang Anh Tuan.

Most likely, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan will save his energy for the match with U20 France and focus all his energy on the decisive match with U20 Honduras. Photo: Internet.

The image of a series of U20 Vietnam players collapsing on the field after more than 90 minutes of competition with U20 New Zealand showed one thing: the physical strength of Quang Hai and his teammates cannot be compared to other colleagues in this tournament. The 3-day break between the 2 matches was still not enough for coach Hoang Anh Tuan's students to fully recover their health.

If they go all out against U20 France, the risk of running out of battery will easily occur in the important match with U20 Honduras. Facing a historic opportunity (entering the knockout round), Coach Hoang Anh Tuan must choose the most optimal option possible.

Choosing to lose one match (U20 France) to create conditions to win the whole match (U20 Honduras), that is a smart calculation for U20 Vietnam at this time./.

Thanh Hung