Where does the new fortune of the Vietnam team start?

When the Vietnamese national team continuously encounters unforeseen misfortunes, prolonged failures, and more alarming changes in personnel than ever...

The unexpected injuries of Hung Dung, Trong Hoang, Van Hau, Dinh Trong... makeVietnam National TeamBeing quickly identified and deeply penetrated into the two wings is the reason that everyone knows, but cannot be overcome because the reserve force is thin. The cancellation of V. League 2021 has made the search and addition of forces go into a dead end, and the number of players recruited is just going up and down the old faces, with no new discoveries.

Coach Park Hang-seo calculates new personnel for the Vietnam team. Photo: VFF.

When realizing the inevitable shortcomings mentioned above, the Vietnam National Team started to rebuild but encountered difficulties because Covid-19 forced a series of key players to sit out, not to mention the complicated procedures during Covid-19 made Mr. Park feel like he was sitting on fire when calculating who to call and who to leave out, only focusing on health but not necessarily on expertise like before?

Therefore, any hope from the upcoming away match against Australia and even the match at My Dinh Stadium against China is more fragile than ever. Facing an Australia team that still has hope of finding a ticket to the World Cup (temporarily ranked 3rd in Group B, with 11 points, only 1 point behind Japan), with the home field advantage, they will be determined to earn 3 points to keep their hope of getting a ticket. Meanwhile, Vietnam team "handicap" a whole attacking line (without Tien Linh, Van Toan) and no matter how well Mr. Park Hang-seo manages his troops, everything will not be difficult to predict when the match ends.

The Vietnamese team held a tactical meeting right on the training ground. Photo: VFF

The problem is that Mr. Park Hang-seo needs to do something so that the recovery momentum that has begun to emerge after the unsuccessful AFF Cup is not stopped, but on the contrary, it still creates excitement and confidence despite the unsatisfactory results. To put it bluntly, if he loses a match against a big opponent with many advantages, it is not a disaster. On the contrary, the Golden Star Warriors must always show solidarity, fight to the end, absolutely not give up even in the most difficult times and wait for the opportunity to do more, to decide more.

Of course, the Vietnamese team will have more advantages when returning to My Dinh Stadium in the second leg against the Chinese team later. Of course, both teams have the highest determination for this match. The Chinese team has no hope of finding a ticket to the World Cup like Saudi Arabia or Japan when they have absolutely no advantage in the whole race. But with their current strength in many aspects, if they win 3 points against the Vietnamese team, this team will somehow be "easier to talk" to the public and fans when the qualifying round ends. The fact that they called up more than 50 players, divided the team according to the coach to study carefully, study professionally like a campaign... shows what they want in the next match?

In the first leg, the Chinese team continuously took the lead over the Vietnamese team but they were equalized by the Vietnamese team 2-2 and only a mistake by a young central defender on the Vietnamese team helped them get 3 valuable points. That is what will make the Chinese team pay more attention than ever, especially the indomitable will of Quang Hai, Tien Linh and his teammates.

The Vietnamese national team is very focused on preparing for the upcoming match. Photo courtesy of Hai Hoang

When Ngoc Hai finishes his suspension, when Tien Linh, Van Toan... recover, when new players are tested in the match against the Australian team, when the team's rebuilding process begins to go more smoothly, hopefully the Vietnamese team will show a completely new face against the opponent, especially with the new role of Hung Dung and the ability to enter the game "more dangerous than before" of this midfielder.

First of all, absolutely do not fall for the opponent's tricks when they play ambush, deliberately trap us to push up, expose the wings, expose the flanks and counterattack as fiercely as ever seen. We must pay attention to the highest level of activity of striker Wu Lei, especially when this striker rushes down to receive crosses with landing points to finish with a header that is extremely difficult to block. The 3 central defenders of the Vietnam National Team, including Ngoc Hai, must be extremely tight, compatible, and linked together to cut off all passes to this striker or the naturalized stars of the away team. From there, we will have the opportunity to do something, even a victory more precious than any victory of the Vietnam National Team from the past to the present?

Only then, on the first day of Tet, will the Vietnamese national team truly shake off the "bad luck" that has been entangled for so long, creating a "good luck" - a new opportunity for Vietnamese football in the new year of Nham Dan 2022 with many attractive tournaments ahead...

Phu Chau