Thailand national team coach launches psychological attack before rematch with Vietnam?

After the match with UAE, Japanese strategist Nishino, who is currently the head coach of the Thai national team, shared his opinion on Bui Tien Dung's action of lying on the field in the match between Thailand and Vietnam that took place more than a month ago.

“He rolled over and lay on the ground right in front of me. I thought he was lying on the ground for another reason. When I approached and said a few words in Japanese, the Vietnamese player immediately returned to play as if nothing had happened. I don’t understand their way of playing. Football cannot develop if players play like amateurs,” said Mr. Nishino.

Mr. Nishino's statement immediately created a wave of reaction from Vietnamese and Thai public opinion. Thai fans will of course agree with the Japanese strategist's point of view because they think that Bui Tien Dung's situation on the field happened at the end of the match and the impact of the Thai player was not enough to make the Vietnamese player on the field for that long. As for Vietnamese fans, they consider it a normal action in football, especially at a time when the Vietnamese team has to play away against a home team that is eager to take revenge after the previous loss at the King's Cup.

Mr. Nishino reacted to Bui Tien Dung's action of lying on the ground. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The Japanese coach forgot that when he was in charge of the Japanese national team competing in the 2018 World Cup, he instructed his players to blatantly waste time in the final match of the group stage against Poland.

After conceding the first goal to Poland, the Japanese players only passed the ball back and forth in their own half to maintain the 1-0 loss, a result that was enough for them to advance because their direct competitor Senegal was inferior to Nishino's team in terms of penalty card ratio.

The time-wasting actions of the Japanese team were the biggest stain at the World Cup held in Russia. Therefore, even though the Japanese team won a ticket to the round of 16, they were still strongly condemned by their own fans for that lack of fair play. Mr. Nishino himself could not keep his seat due to great pressure from Japanese public opinion.

The coach of the Thai national team is under great pressure before the match with the Vietnamese national team. Photo: tuoitre.vn

However, in his first match as Thailand coach, the Japanese strategist showed an excessive attitude towards Vietnam's central defender Bui Tien Dung. He said that Tien Dung was lying on the field to waste time at the end of the match, not because he was really hurt.

It is worth mentioning that Mr. Nishino's reaction statement came after 1 month of the match and before the rematch at My Dinh Stadium next November. That will be an important match that will determine the fate of both Thailand and Vietnam in the World Cup qualifiers. Furthermore, facing an opponent that Thai fans are very eager to take revenge on, Mr. Nishino must be under great pressure to win.

Is the Thai coach deliberately using psychological tricks to push the heat of the rematch to the peak, causing Bui Tien Dung and his teammates to feel distracted? Despite the impressive victory over UAE in the recent round, that is not enough for Mr. Nishino to feel secure before the trip that is predicted to be "difficult" and he must win at My Dinh Stadium on November 19.

Quang Huy