Coach Diego Giustozzi: 'Vietnam will play well against Uzbekistan'

At the press conference before the quarter-final match, held this afternoon (April 23) in Bangkok (Thailand), coach Diego Giustozzi affirmed: "Each group has 2 teams in the quarter-finals. I am happy with this result. We usually play better when facing teams that play fair and open, but now we start playing in a different format. If we win, we will advance, and if we lose, we will have to go home."

Evaluating the opponent Uzbekistan, coach Diego said: "Uzbekistan's tactics, techniques and physical strength are very good. They were in a strong group but won first place. Their coach is very good. When we participated in the tournament, we knew they were candidates for the tournament.

I look forward to meeting strong teams that play direct attack like Thailand and Uzbekistan. We need to enjoy the match and do our best in this match.

However, in a knockout match, the teams are worried and cautious. The winning team will advance, the losing team will go home. We have faith and goals. The Vietnamese futsal team needs to play well against Uzbekistan."

I don’t want Vietnam to think about the past. I always train and aim for progress. When I came to Vietnam, I told myself to always work to win, to look to the future.

Now we have a chance to go to the World Cup. We need to focus when we meet a strong opponent in the tournament. Remember not to look back at the past."

Meanwhile, the head coach of the Uzbekistan futsal team said that the level between Asian futsal teams has narrowed significantly.

"Getting a ticket to the Futsal World Cup is getting harder and harder because the level of teams in Asia is getting narrower and narrower. The Vietnamese futsal team has made great progress. This is shown by the fact that they have qualified for the quarter-finals. We are confident, but in a round like the quarter-finals, anything can happen.

The Vietnamese players are very agile. They can adapt to any situation in the game. Their coach can also change tactics very quickly. We hope to control the game well and win.

Injuries are no excuse for games like this. We have no injured players. Uzbekistan's goal is to win and qualify.

We have prepared well both tactically and physically, because it will be a knockout match and there is no room for mistakes. Now is not the time to think about past achievements but to calculate for the match at the present time," coach Jose Venancio López said.

The quarter-final match of the 2024 Asian Futsal Championship between the Vietnam Futsal Team and Uzbekistan will take place at 9:00 p.m. on April 24 at Bangkok Arena.