Which team will Coach Trousier choose to go to the Philippines?

It is not uncommon for key players and potential players to be called up to the national teams despite being injured. Examples include Trong Hoang, Hung Dung... during Park Hang Seo's time or Ngoc Hai, Dinh Bac during Philippe Troussier's time. These are players who practice with their own training plans and a rapid recovery process to be ready for the match.

Just a few days before finalizing the list to go to the Philippines, experts and fans, especially the French coach, can breathe a sigh of relief when center back Ngoc Hai was able to "swallow the entire lesson plan" as required.

From a key player like Ngoc Hai mentioned above, the final list selection, at least the defense of the Vietnam National Team will also have changes compared to the prediction. Without Duy Manh and his replacement Tien Dung, it is not certain that Viettel's central defender will be "marked" because Viet Anh or Thanh Binh are ready at the highest level to fulfill the task. Not to mention Tuan Tai has long been considered an important card on the left wing in the effort to rotate the ball from home and launch sharp attacks.

Just one day before the shortlist was announced, defender Tien Anh, who had been tested quite a lot on the right wing, had to say goodbye to the team. This shows that Mr. Troussier, although patient with his students through the tests, could not be patient with the pressure from public opinion. His calling back Van Thanh or Xuan Manh was a necessary calculation for the wing problem, which is the most important problem for every team, both ensuring the ability to defend and being the key to every attack.

The final list is 23 names as usual, so the last 3 names that have to stay at home are still very difficult to predict. Some people predict that in the end, Mr. Troussier will have to choose those with battle experience and high performance, despite the fact that during the testing process he "favored" some students. Accordingly, Van Lam, Ngoc Hai, Viet Anh, Tuan Tai, Van Thanh, Xuan Manh, Tuan Anh, Hoang Duc, Hung Dung, Tuan Hai, Van Toan will be the names to be filled in the starting lineup. And accordingly, it is very difficult to have room for young factors such as Van Viet, Thanh Binh, Thai Son, Minh Trong, Van Cuong, Dinh Bac, Van Khang...

But in our opinion, all predictions will be just… speculation, because the “White Witch” is not a simple strategist as many people think. The French coach will keep the pillars who are in good form, like the way he waited for Ngoc Hai, Hoang Duc for example, but there is nothing certain to say that he will keep Van Thanh, Xuan Manh or Van Quyet, those he called up and then eliminated later.

Not to mention new students like Thai Son, Minh Trong, Van Khang, Van Cuong... are improving day by day, refreshing the team's image and are the long-term hope of Vietnamese football, and will certainly be arranged and used by him as reasonably as possible.

Many people are worried and wondering about the French coach's way of doing things, that's not too much, but let's give him a chance to show his ability, when things haven't really started yet. Of course, careful and complete preparation is the basis for every step. Friendly matches are the step of screening, selecting, and building the team's shape, but remember that no one does the same thing even though the ultimate goal is the same. It's not good for a team to win a friendly but lose officially. It's very necessary for a team to lose a friendly to win officially like Calisto did in the AFF Cup 2008, and who knows, that will happen again with Troussier in the future?

Furthermore, it should be remembered that currently the star considered the biggest Quang Hai is "sinking" in disappointment, not to mention Cong Phuong, Van Toan... also drifting, also lost very regrettably. So, Mr. Troussier's task is not easy when Vietnamese football is standing at the top of the region but facing countless difficulties against all opponents, while the ambition and expectations of experts and fans are not...lower at all!

Today, there will be a list of the Vietnam team that will go to the Philippines to play the opening match of the 2nd round of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers. "All beginnings are difficult" so hopefully, Mr. Troussier and his team will be calm and confident to overcome familiar opponents with the attitude of knowing yourself and knowing the enemy.

A favorable result in the opening match will be an important mental medicine to face the number 1 opponent in the group, the Iraqi team, at My Dinh Stadium a few days later. The French coach has certainly done a good job of educating all the players about the team's door always being open, today they may not be "marked" but tomorrow they can be. That is also a new feature of the current team, completely not a ready-made framework as seen, which was not successful in the past./.