Vietnam team finds Iran's weak points

The 5-0 victory over Yemen showed how strong and determined Iran is in the 2019 Asian Cup. Even the coaching staff of the Vietnam team is aware that a draw with Iran would be a miracle, and a narrow loss would not be too bad.

Having witnessed Iran's 5-0 win over Yemen, Vietnam's assistant coach Lee Young Jin fully understood that the biggest score in the first round of the 2019 Asian Cup group stage did not fully reflect the strength of the team currently ranked number 1 in the continent. Iran did not use all their strength but still turned Yemen's defense into a practice ground for the championship goal.

Head coach Carlos Queiroz is aware that this is the right time for him to help the team find a championship title before the possibility of saying goodbye to lead the Colombian team. In 8 years with Iran, the Portuguese coach has not helped the team with a rich tradition in the Asian Cup with 3 championships in the past to show the strength to dominate the continent, besides the unofficial title of the highest ranked Asian team on the FIFA rankings.

That is why Mr. Carlos Queiroz has called back the stars who played very well at the 2018 World Cup to serve the national team. The proof is that the injured player, midfielder Jahanbakhsh (playing for Brighton in the Premier League), was still called back, just to wait for recovery to play from the quarter-finals.

Mehdi Taremi (17), who scored a double for Iran in the 5-0 win over Yemen, will be the main threat to Vietnam's defense. Photo: AFC

Iran's desire, on the other hand, put Vietnam in a very difficult situation, especially after the 2-3 defeat against Iraq. The door to the second round as one of the top two teams in the group has narrowed considerably, forcing coach Park Hang-seo to consider the option of one of the four third-placed teams with good records to advance. To do this, Mr. Park set a goal of getting points when meeting Iran on January 12. To do that, notes and analysis from assistant Lee Young Jin are very necessary.

The problem is, from those notes after Iran's near-perfect performance, coach Park and his colleagues will come up with a plan to overcome the opponent. Iran scored 5 goals against Yemen in a diverse style, especially aerial battles with the modern style of European football.

The difficulty for Mr. Park and his team is that Iran is the team with the best average height in the tournament, while Vietnam is the opposite. Each line of the West Asian representative has "mobile towers" such as goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand (1.94 m), defender Hossein Kanaanizadegan (1.86 m), midfielder Rouzbeh Cheshmi (1.92 m) or striker Mehdi Taremi who just scored a "double" and is 1.87 m tall.

Not only that, Iran has players with technique, speed, long-range shooting ability and very good team coordination. Many Iranian players are playing in Europe such as striker Karim Ansarifard playing for Nottingham Forest in the English First Division, midfielder Jahanbakhsh (Brighton), Amir Abedzadeh (Maritimo), Morteza Pouraliganji (Eupen), Milad Mohammadi (Akhmat Grozny), Vahid Amiri, Majid Hosseini (Trabzonspor), Sardar Azmoun (Rubin Kazan) or Saman Ghoddos (Amiens)... All of them returned with the desire to help Iranian football return to the top position at the Asian Cup. Therefore, in the confrontation with the Vietnamese team, they will be determined to win, even win big to facilitate the race for the top spot in the group in case of a draw with Iraq in the last round.

Be cautious before the Vietnam team

After watching the match between Vietnam and Iraq, Iran coach Carlos Queiroz expressed his impression of the playing style of coach Park Hang-seo and his team. However, the Portuguese coach also recognized the way coach Park Hang-seo and his team played: "The Vietnamese team has improved rapidly in recent times, especially the defense is highly appreciated. The way of playing defensive counter-attacks quickly, using short passes is very reasonable. We will have to be careful when meeting coach Park Hang-seo and his team."

Mr. Dung