What if football's 'quadruple' win remains elusive?

This was an opportunity for Vietnamese football to realize its ambition of a historic "quadruple," but it only achieved half of the crucial goal: the championships won by the U23+3 team and the women's team, while the two Futsal teams failed to overcome Thailand at this time.

In regional and continental futsal, Thailand has long been a formidable force due to its long-standing foundation in the sport, which has been continuously maintained and upgraded over time. Recently, although Indonesian and Vietnamese futsal teams have made significant progress, when facing the Thais, these two competing teams have still been unable to overcome the most critical moments to secure a victory. The Indonesian men's futsal team once led the powerful Thai team in the regional tournament final a few months ago, needing only to hold on until the final seconds to win the championship, but still let it slip away in a very regrettable manner.

Meanwhile, at these SEA Games, the third-place bronze medal for the Vietnamese men's futsal team and the silver medal for the Vietnamese women's futsal team demonstrate that despite their best efforts, they were ultimately powerless. A draw against Thailand would have secured the gold medal, but neither the men's nor the women's futsal teams could achieve it. Therefore, finding a foreign coach for futsal is crucial to gradually catch up with and surpass the Thais, even though we have already made indelible marks in the World Cup through our two appearances.

Vietnam U23 team wins gold medal in men's football at SEA Games 31. Photo: VnE

But for the Vietnamese U23 and women's national teams, the story with the Thais has turned a new page. Coach Park Hang-seo's team at SEA Games 31 truly fears no opponent, not choosing a weak team in the semi-finals, ready to face the Thais to reclaim what they lost in the recent AFF Cup. Of course, Thailand is truly a "perfect opponent" with many strengths in terms of personnel, technique, tactics, and the coaching talent of their manager. The SEA Games 31 men's football final was a "dream match" with the Thais' superior ball control, pushing their opponents back into their own half, and their high confidence in forcing their opponents to make mistakes for them to exploit, as they have done for a long time.

But the Vietnamese U23 team, with a clean sheet streak since the start of the tournament and meticulous preparation, easily recognized their opponents' fatigue from the second half onwards and launched a series of relentless attacks that the Thais couldn't withstand. The situation where full-back Tuan Tai comfortably received the ball in a vast open space on the left wing and delivered a precise cross for Manh Dung to score proved that the Thais were unable to keep up with the flow of the game. And leaving open spaces for the opponent to exploit is synonymous with defeat and conceding goals – something everyone knows and understands, especially when recalling the famous quote, "football is essentially the art of exploiting space," by the master coach Pep Guardiola. The story of the Thais' "unable to swallow defeat" against the Vietnamese U23 team this time will surely lead to many exciting and interesting developments ahead, especially since the two teams will meet again in the upcoming U23 Asian Championship to prove who is the better player.

Huynh Nhu (number 9) and her team wave flags and run around Cam Pha stadium after the match on the evening of May 21st. Photo:Ngoc Thanh

For the Vietnamese women's national team, recently overcoming Thailand is no longer a surprise or anything new. The Philippines women's team's unexpected qualification for the 2023 World Cup before Vietnam might have caused some concern for coach Mai Duc Chung and his players, especially in the early minutes of the match where the host nation unexpectedly fell behind at the SEA Games. But immediately, order was restored as Huynh Nhu and her teammates proactively controlled the ball, played flexibly, neutralized the opponent's physical advantages, and successively scored to turn the tide, leaving the opponent heartbroken. Then, in the final against the Thai women's national team, coach Mai Duc Chung once again deployed new, effective weapons from the same players.

It was the unexpected brilliance of Duong Thi Van in the central midfield position, with a through pass straight into the center, opening up opportunities for captain Huynh Nhu to do what needed to be done, demonstrating absolute trust in this "female general." It wasn't Thuy Dung taking corner kicks or scoring free kicks, nor was it full-back Bich Thuy pushing forward and suddenly appearing in the opponent's penalty area, nor was it the veteran Thuy Trang charging forward and scoring as she used to, forcing opponents to closely mark and be highly vigilant… From one surprise to another for the opponents, the Vietnamese women's national team winning their third consecutive SEA Games gold medal, making even the tough opponent Thailand look up in admiration, is a clear reality.