Thai newspaper admits home team's stalemate in "crazy match"

Vietnam U23 team has excellently defeated Thailand U23 with a score of 4-0 in the final match of the 2020 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers with goals from Duc Chinh, Hoang Duc, Thanh Chung and Thanh Son. This resounding victory not only helped coach Park Hang-seo and his team enter the final round but also set a record in the history of confrontations with Thai football for the biggest winning margin.

Thailand, that's old.

First of all, it must be said that before the strong rise of Vietnam, Thai public opinion has criticized the poor performance of this country's football. The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) even had to postpone the King's Cup to invite the Vietnamese team to participate in an attempt to win over the red team even though it was just a friendly tournament.

My Dinh Stadium spectators were excited after the 4-0 victory. Photo: Dung Nguyen

Sending the strongest squad to the 2020 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers, including the task of defeating the host team Vietnam, put coach Alexandre Gama and his team under great pressure. In the match, the young Thai players were excited and played more fiercely than necessary. Thai players Wisarut, Thawornsak, Supachai played extremely tough, with many rough tackles aimed at Quang Hai, Viet Hung...

Coach Alexandre Gama's intention to destroy his strength and play style was foiled when the home team Vietnam players also "tit for tat". A little trick by home team player Tan Sinh made the main striker Supachai lose his temper and hit Dinh Trong and was sent off when the score was already 2-0.

With a score of 4-0 in favor of the home team, this was a "crazy match" but it was a calculated craziness of the Korean coach when he carefully studied his opponent and his students absolutely followed the coach's instructions.

Setting a trap

The deadlock of U23 Thailand was also due to the surprise of Park Hang-seo's small but interesting tactical change. Instead of using the familiar 3-4-3 formation throughout the 2018 ASIAD tournaments, then the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup and then the 2019 Asian Cup, Park chose the 3-5-2 formation. He asked Quang Hai not to stick to the sidelines as usual but to play freely, along with Thai Quy - Trieu Viet Hung to form a defensive line in the central area.

So, playing on the wings are Tan Tai and Van Hau. Quang Hai in this match plays the central midfield position, but plays quite freely, with the task of connecting the midfield, which is given priority in recovering the ball and intercepting, to the attack.

As the Korean coach had calculated, when the center was blocked, the Thai players were forced to play wide. He believed that Thailand would avoid attacking from their right wing, because blocking that corridor was Van Hau - Vietnam's best full-back at the moment.

Brazilian coach Alexandre Gama of Thailand U23 said: "First of all, I want to congratulate Vietnam U23 on their victory. But clearly the 4-0 score is very surprising." Photo: VOV

The main highlight was that the Thai players focused on blocking the "explosive" Quang Hai and forgot to mark Van Hau, allowing the left-back to create a pass for Ha Duc Chinh to pierce the hole for goalkeeper Muangngam. Ha Duc Chinh's opening goal was the turning point of this match.

The U23 Vietnam coaching board calculated that the main attacking direction of the away team and the main striker Supachai would play on the left to penetrate deep into the area occupied by Tan Tai - the new player of U23 Vietnam. At that time, midfielders Thai Quy and Viet Hung also proactively played on the left with Tan Tai and Tan Sinh to intercept Wisarut, Supachai and Supachok. Even when Mr. Gama arranged up to 4 players to penetrate the flank, the home team's numbers were still guaranteed to block the opponent.

In this match, the trio of central defenders Thanh Chung, Dinh Trong, and Tan Sinh did a good job of preventing the passing, short passing, and attacking football style from the center and the wings thanks to good coverage.

Losing 0-4, Thailand also lost their main striker Supachai in the opening match of the 2020 AFC U23 Championship held at home. Thai press and fans are completely convinced of the Vietnamese players. Vietnamese football is turning a new page, affirming its leading position in Southeast Asia.

AT