Vietnam Olympics: Small goals, big playground

The team will face Mongolia, Iran and Saudi Arabia in the group stage and the modest goal is to try to get through this round, although deep down, everyone hopes that the young and ambitious team will go further in the continental arena.

Remember before, Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan was assigned to lead U23 Vietnam to defend the throne at the U23 Southeast Asian Championship with the main members being the U20 generation and they completed the task excellently. This time, still with the main force being the U20 generation, plus 2 players over 23 years old, Sy Huy and Manh Dung, the Vietnam Olympic team was "ceded" by Mr. Philipe Troussier to Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan to take the helm, certainly cannot do anything special against opponents who are superior in every aspect, but still hope that this "big playground" will help the young factors quickly mature when rubbing, learning from real combat, from the level of the opponent.

Before announcing the list of players, Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan did not forget to reaffirm the very high requirements for his students to be loyal to the "attacking ball control" style of play that Mr. Troussier is building in the Vietnamese football teams in the process of heading to the continent. Of course, the young coach cannot say anything different from the "track" set for him for many months now, especially the two coaching campaigns that he has and will experience. But then, reality will show that the motto set is one thing, but the situation on the field against opponents is completely different.

In the U23 Southeast Asian Championship, U23 Malaysia or U23 Indonesia sometimes gave up the game to U23 Vietnam, but it was clear that they were always waiting to launch a counterattack to finish off their opponents. Coach Troussier himself was helpless with U23 Indonesia's strong throw-in situations to score goals, and then the bitter counterattack situation when they were down by one in the semi-finals when they unexpectedly lost in extra time with a score of 2-3. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan later also encountered the throw-in situations that had "caused sorrow" for U23 Indonesia to host U23 Thailand and even U23 Vietnam more than a few times in the final match. But fortunately and very well, Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan's students learned from their experience, knew how to neutralize this tactic, causing U23 Indonesia to lose a very annoying "trump card" and then failed in the 11m penalty shootout, so that they were still bitter, irritated, leading to complaints, demands...

So in the upcoming group stage, Vietnam Olympic team will likely take the initiative to play "attacking ball control" against Mongolia Olympic team - an opponent of equal strength. Meanwhile, the Olympic opponents Iran or Saudi Arabia with superior physique and physical strength will definitely be the ones playing "attacking ball control" against Vietnam Olympic team. Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan believes that Vietnam Olympic team will try their best to carry out the method that the French coach requires, because the deepest goal is not to win by all means at this time, but the path of training and maturity of young players to move towards the playing style of the Vietnam Team for a higher, further goal that is being set.

This also means that the Vietnam Olympic team is not "targeted" by any target, any goal, they should just play football confidently, as comfortably as possible, winning or losing is not the most important thing. And therefore, who knows, from this very request, no matter what Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan says, he will set a goal for himself and his students, by striving to pass the group stage, and from there, every match will be a final match. Who in the U23 Vietnam team in Thuong Chau "dreamed" of going from one victory to another, and they still did it?

With Vietnamese football in the process of upgrading, the French coach is deciding everything big and small, but don't say that the Vietnamese coaches have no role, can't do anything? Furthermore, some players who were not trusted by coach Troussier in the U23 Asian Qualifiers but "only" had the duty at the Vietnam Olympic team, certainly will not back down in any situation to prove their ability and the 2023 ASIAD is the best opportunity for them to indirectly prove themselves to coach Troussier, such as Xuan Tien, Nam Hai, Duc Viet, Nguyen Hoang... for example. Those silent motivations of the coach and players of the Vietnam Olympic team will make the upcoming race interesting and unpredictable because of that common and special reason.

ASIAD 2023 is a continental playground, a big playground, but the Vietnamese Olympic Team has set a "small goal" which is inevitable, because of the long-term, new vision that Vietnamese football is setting, an opportunity for young talents to strive and mature. That is also a fundamental step, a long-term calculation of Vietnamese football, which needs to be supported, encouraged and promoted towards the "sweet fruit seasons" in the future./.