Difficulties on the journey to defend the AFF Cup championship of the Vietnamese team

The Vietnam national team has just lost 6 consecutive matches in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. This will certainly have a significant impact on the players' mentality. Coming to Singapore, the coaching staff and Vietnamese players need to quickly regain the feeling of victory and make an effort to defend the AFF Cup throne.

Inspire competition

In fact,Coach Park Hang-seois very good at inspiring his players to compete in difficult times. The Korean strategist always knows how to release the defeat mentality for the players, helping them feel confident in the important journey ahead. If there is a victory against the Laos team in the first match of the AFF Cup 2021 group stage, everything will be much easier. Surely coach Park and the coaching staff know that, the opponent is not too strong for us to worry about.

Vietnam National Team players are ready. Photo: VFF

Except DVietnam team, the teams in the region have not competed in the recent period. The friction and competition in the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup helped Coach Park's team gain valuable lessons. But it is also an opportunity for coaches of Southeast Asian teams to carefully study and exploit the weaknesses of the Vietnamese team. There is a slight disadvantage when the opponent knows us well, while Coach Park Hang-seo does not have the opportunity to witness the opponent's changes.

To win the championship, we need to have 7 matches, when there are not many surprise factors before the tournament, coach Park needs to have a different problem. Obviously, coach Park Hang-seo and his team need to change the players as well as the playing style through each match to surprise the opponent. The Korean coach has to introduce new faces like Hoang Duc, Tan Tai, Viet Anh and refresh old faces like Van Duc, Duc Chinh. We may still play with the familiar tactical diagrams 3-4-3, 3-5-2 but will deploy different attacks and playing speeds to avoid releasing forces too early.

Shockinjury and physical

The Vietnamese national team is having problems with injuries and fitness, which is also a headache for coach Park. Competing with tall opponents with good physical foundations from the continent, Que Ngoc Hai and his teammates are being physically exhausted a lot. In addition, we have quite a few players who have had and are having problems with injuries such as Tran Minh Vuong, Bui Tien Dung, Tran Dinh Trong, Nguyen Thanh Chung, Hung Dung and Nguyen Tuan Anh. Currently, most of the above names have recovered, but with the frequency of playing 3 days/match, the risk of recurrence of old injuries is always present.

Hung Dung returns to training with the Vietnam team.

Unlike their opponents, having a long break from competition in the 2021 AFF Cup is a big challenge for Vietnamese players to maintain their stamina and form. This requires coach Park Hang-seo and the team's coaching staff to use personnel appropriately, rotating the squad in some matches to ensure the best physical condition for the Vietnamese players. The doctors of the Vietnamese team must also prepare the best physical recovery solutions for the players after the match.

It is no coincidence that after 12 AFF Cups, only two champions, Thailand and Singapore, have successfully defended their championship titles. In football, winning a championship is difficult, defending the championship is even more difficult, and Vietnamese fans expect Coach Park to play this difficult game well.