For 10 years, has Vietnamese football really surpassed its rival Thailand?
(Baonghean.vn) - In recent years, Vietnamese football has achieved resounding results in regional and continental competitions. However, in many aspects, Thai football is still one step ahead of us. Among them, there is the quality of the national championship as well as the number of players going abroad, player value, and quality of talent.
FIFA Ranking
According to the latest FIFA rankings, Vietnamese football is ranked 94th in the world, the Vietnam National Team has 1258, ranked 14th in Asia and number 1 in Southeast Asia. This is our highest ranking on the FIFA rankings in the past 20 years, before that Vietnam was ranked 84th in the world in 1998.
Looking at that, the Vietnamese team has made a strong rise in the FIFA rankings in the past decade (2010 - 2019). Specifically, the Vietnamese team ranked 137th in 2010, but rose to 94th in the world in 2019, up 43 places.
Meanwhile, Thailand has only increased its ranking by 8 places in the past 10 years, from 121st to 113th in the world. To achieve such positive results, Coach Park Hang-seo has continuously helped Vietnamese football create new miracles.
 |
| Vietnam National Team is still at the top of Southeast Asia on FIFA rankings. Photo: AFC |
Southeast Asia region achievements
At the national team level, the Korean coach helped the Vietnamese team win the 2018 AFF Cup, reach the quarterfinals of the 2019 Asian Cup, become the runner-up of the 2019 King's Cup and excellently won the top spot in Group G in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers. Most recently, the 30th SEA Games championship for the first time in the history of Vietnamese football.
However, if we consider the number of AFF Cup championships, Thailand has won 5 times in 1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016. In the SEA Games arena, Thai football has won 16 times. While we have only won once in 60 years.
 |
| The Thai team has continuously held Vietnam to draws in recent matches. Photo: Trung Kien |
What makes fans most optimistic is the position of the Vietnam National Team in Group G - 2022 World Cup Qualifiers. Coach Park Hang-seo's team won 3, drew 2 and is currently at the top of the table with 11 points. Meanwhile, Coach Akira Nishino's team has 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, earning 8 points, ranking 3rd.
However, in the last two matches against Thailand, we did not concede a goal, but also did not score a single goal. At the 30th SEA Games, Thailand also held Vietnam to a draw in a match where we struggled to equalize 2-2.
National Championship Quality
Commenting on the Thai opponent, captain Que Ngoc Hai said: "The quality of Thai players as well as their tactical thinking and playing style have many similarities to ours." The last time we defeated Thailand was at the 2019 King's Cup thanks to a somewhat lucky header by Anh Duc.
On the other hand, if we consider the quality of the National Championship, Thai football is one step ahead of us. Former head coach of the National Team, chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Club, Mr. Nguyen Huu Thang said: “I have also visited clubs in Thailand and watched their National Championship.
If we talk about professional football, the Thais are ahead of us. We have to see this clearly. I will just take the example of training facilities. Each of their clubs has 8 training grounds. Besides PVF and Viettel, how many other teams can meet that requirement?
 |
| Stadiums in the Thai League meet the standards to host matches for the Thai national team, while Da Nang's Hoa Xuan Stadium is deteriorating. Photo: Thai League |
The Thai Premier League has 18 teams, 3 teams are relegated and the First Division has 22 teams. The competition in these tournaments is extremely fierce. With only 14 teams in the V.League and 12 teams in the First Division, the promotion spot is 1.5.
According to the ranking of the strongest clubs in Southeast Asia in 2020, Hanoi FC is only in 6th place, behind teams from the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. The leading club in the ASEAN region is Ceres Negros of the Philippines.
The second-placed team in Southeast Asia is Buriram United of the Thai League with 40.67 points. Other famous Vietnamese teams are B. Binh Duong ranked 87th in Asia with 13.39 points, Thanh Hoa ranked 94th with 11.38 points, and Ho Chi Minh City ranked only 119th with only 8.33 points.
Player commercial value
Vietnamese football also has to accept another loss, which is the number of players going abroad to play. In the past, Cong Vinh was the face that made Vietnamese football "proud", but now, from Nguyen Cong Phuong to Doan Van Hau, some failed to return to V.League, others are struggling to find every minute of playing time in the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, Thailand has just had another player come to Japan to play, goalkeeper Kawin Thamsatchanan. This player came to Consadole Sapporo, bringing the total number of Thai players who have played in Japan to 22, not counting other countries. Most notable are faces like Chanathip, Theerathon, Thitipan, Teerasil Dangda... They all took the starting position and became pillars of clubs in Japan.
 |
| Chanathip becomes expensive player in Japan. Photo: JFA |
And of course, from a commercial perspective, the combined value of the Vietnamese players is still not as high as Chanathip Songkrasin. Transfermarkt estimates the Thai player's value at 2.4 million euros - nearly double the total value of the Vietnamese team in 2019.
It should be noted that the total value of the Vietnamese team calculated by Transfermarkt is only 1.4 million euros. The player with the highest value, Dang Van Lam, only stopped at 300,000 euros when he moved to play for Muangthong United in Thai League 1. Some other players such as Luong Xuan Truong, Nguyen Cong Phuong (200,000 euros), Doan Van Hau and Nguyen Quang Hai (150,000 euros).
Referee quality
In terms of player quality, the quality of Vietnamese referees is also quite low. According to the recently announced FIFA referee list for men's football, Vietnam has only 2 people. They are Mr. Hoang Ngoc Ha and Ngo Duy Lan. Meanwhile, Thai football has 6 male referees and 2 female referees, 8 male assistant referees and 3 female assistant referees who meet international standards. Compared to Vietnam, there are only 2 male referees, 3 female referees, 7 male assistants and 3 female assistants who meet FIFA standards.
 |
| Referee Ngo Duy Lan is one of two FIFA referees in Vietnam. Photo: VPF |
Due to the limited number of FIFA referees, no referees were present at the recent 30th SEA Games or the 2020 AFC U23 Championship. In recent years, the quality of Vietnamese referees has always been a controversial issue due to some mistakes, affecting the quality of tournaments.
Overall, Vietnamese football has made remarkable and remarkable progress. However, to truly become a giant in Southeast Asian football, we still have a lot of work to do, from youth training to improving the quality of domestic national championships.
Thai reporter: 'Vietnam has the most chances in the group of death'
(Baonghean.vn) - Thai fans and Thai media are not happy with the results of the draw for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia when the home team has to face Vietnam and the UAE.