Vietnam Olympic ranked 4th at Asiad 2018: The future is wide open
Although not winning the bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games, the Vietnamese Olympic team has still made history in national football, with a fourth-place finish at the Asian Games. More importantly, the current generation is promising for many upcoming major tournaments.
Actually, before the 2018 Asian Games started, not many people believed that the Vietnamese Olympic team could reach the semi-finals and compete for an Asian Games medal. Therefore, the achievements of the team under coach Park Hang Seo are already something to be proud of.
More importantly, the current squad of players in the hands of the Korean coach has very significant advantages, with great potential for the upcoming international tournaments that Vietnamese football will participate in.
The current generation's clear advantage over previous generations is confidence. Quang Hai, Van Hau, Van Duc, Dinh Trong, Van Toan... are almost never nervous even when facing big teams.
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| The future is wide open for the current generation of Vietnamese football. Photo: Huyen Trang) |
Consecutive successes at the U23 Asian tournaments earlier this year and the 2018 Asian Games help the players always have a good mental state against big teams.
In the past, Vietnamese football representatives were often confused when facing teams from stronger football backgrounds than ours, from Thailand and above. But now, Coach Park Hang Seo's players are very confident when facing strong Asian teams.
In terms of personnel, the Vietnam Olympic team has many players who are at the best age of their careers. Players at this age include Van Quyet, Cong Phuong, Van Toan, Duc Huy, Hung Dung, Xuan Truong, Van Thanh, central defender Tien Dung, Phan Van Duc, Xuan Manh.
These players, if supplemented with a few other good players who are playing successfully in domestic tournaments, will create a strong team for the Vietnamese team at the AFF Cup later this year.
If we count the number of players in the group eligible to participate in the 2019 SEA Games and the 2020 U23 Asian Cup, we have Quang Hai, Dinh Trong, goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung, Van Hau, Duc Chinh...
And right among the players in their twenties mentioned above, some are capable of being pillars of the national team right now and in a few years, such as Quang Hai, Dinh Trong, Van Hau. Therefore, the inheritance of the current generation that just attended the 2018 Asian Games is very high.
Such a force makes those interested in Vietnamese football feel secure for the international tournaments we will participate in in the near future.
And we will participate in those international tournaments not only with the goal of "learning experience" as before, but also to compete for achievements, such as competing for the AFF Cup 2018 championship with the Thais and Malaysians, the SEA Games 2019 championship with the Southeast Asian heroes, and competing for the U23 Asian Cup 2020 medal with many strong continental teams.
Such a generation, such a position has been created from the Asian Games playground, what can make us disappointed, whether we win or not win the bronze medal at the Asian Games this year!