Huu Thang & Alfred Riedl: Who is better at pressing?

(Baonghean.vn) - The 2-1 victory over Cambodia in the final match of the 2016 AFF Cup group stage has brought the Vietnamese team to the top of Group B. This is the first time the Vietnamese team has won all 3 matches in the AFF Cup group stage. The question is whether Huu Thang can defeat his coach Alfred Riedl in the semi-final match.?

Coach Huu Thang's team won all 9 points after 3 wins in the group stage and this is the best achievement of the Vietnam team in the group stage in the history of the AFF Cup (including the previous Tiger Cup). In 10 times participating, the Vietnam team has won the right to continue 4 times with the top position in 2000, 2002, 2010 and 2014 but we were not able to get the absolute score like in this tournament. Meanwhile, Austrian coach Alfred Riedl was skillful, leading the Indonesian team to come back, slipping through the narrow door with the second place in Group B.

Fitness is the strong point of the Indonesian team.

On their coaching bench is Austrian coach Alfred Riedl, who has worked in Vietnam for a long time since 1998. He has led several clubs such as Khatoco Khanh Hoa or Hai Phong. The most prominent of course is leading the Vietnam national team in 3 periods, from 1998-2000, 2003-2004 and 2005-2007, so it can be said that Alfred Riedl understands our players' playing style quite well. Moreover, Alfred Riedl has also been the head coach of the Indonesian national team 3 times, the previous two times in 2010 and 2013, so it can be said that he also understands this country's football very well.

Obviously, if the team wants to win the gold medal, they must forget about the group stage victories to focus on defeating Indonesia and possibly Thailand, next. First, the Indonesian team is quite hostile to the Vietnamese team. In the past 17 years, we have only recently won against them at My Dinh Stadium in a friendly match. The Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) is planning to hold the match at Pakansari Stadium in Cibinong, Bogor, West Java province, not the "fire pit" Gelora Bung Karno in the capital Jakarta. If they play at this stadium, the Vietnamese team will face great difficulties when they have to continue traveling a long distance after arriving in the capital Jakarta.

If the absence of Tuan Anh in the attack only brought regret, the absence due to Dinh Luat's red card made Vietnamese fans very worried. Calling 10 players for the defense line but after a long time of putting them together, Huu Thang still did not have the necessary satisfaction. Only left-back Van Thanh temporarily satisfied the coaching staff, Que Ngoc Hai still did not play to his full potential, and Van Hoan was Dinh Dong's replacement after the first match.

Austrian coach Alfred Riedl is very knowledgeable about Vietnamese football.

Who will play as a central defender with Ngoc Hai? Among the four central defenders that the Vietnam national team brought to the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016, Dinh Tien Thanh and Bui Tien Dung were the discoveries of coach Toshiya Miura. However, Tien Thanh and Ngoc Hai only played as a central defender pair in the 2-1 victory of the Vietnam national team against Hong Kong (China) in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Meanwhile, Ngoc Hai and Tien Dung played as a central defender pair in the Vietnam U23 national team at the 2015 SEA Games and Tien Dung was sent on to try his hand in the match against Cambodia.

Not to mention, Dinh Dong - another fullback from Nghe An was once assigned by Huu Thang to play as a central defender in SLNA's shirt. With the long-range defense system only Hoang Thinh is in charge of, this central defender position, in addition to being agile, must also have good physical strength. We have seen how Zamrun, Bachdim, Dimas, Solossa played aggressively when facing Vietnamese players.

If we are in trouble, so are our opponents, as Indonesian national team defender Garuda Rudolof Yanto Basna and Fachruddin Wahyudi Aryanto are both suspended for receiving two yellow cards. The question is, who is better at pressing, coach Huu Thang or coach Alfred Riedl?

An Thanh