Thai newspaper criticizes home team for being afraid of Vietnam; Neymar mocks Argentina's Super Cup title

Thai newspaper criticized the home team for being afraid of Vietnam.

The first reason given by the Thai newspaper was that coach Worrawoot Srimaka made unreasonable substitutions. "Midfielder Ekanit Panya did not play at his best in this match," the newspaper commented. "He lost the ball easily, did not create opportunities, and could not connect with his teammates. Ekanit prevented Thailand's left wing from attacking dangerously. However, it was not until the 80th minute that he was substituted, while this should have happened right after the first half."

Defender Nicholas Mickelson (No. 12) after a dispute with Le Van Do (right) in the match between Thailand and Vietnam, 2-2, at the AFC U23 Championship on the evening of June 2 in Uzbekistan. Photo: Lam Thoa

Ekanit created the most scoring chances for his teammates for Thailand in this match, with three situations. He himself passed the ball to Ben Davis to shoot from a distance to equalize 1-1 for Thailand. Ekanit left the field to make way for Patrik Gustavsson in the 80th minute, when Vietnam was leading 2-1. In the extra minute, Thanawat Suengchitthawon crossed the ball for Suphanat Mueanta to head in from close range to bring a point for Thailand.

Despite the home team's draw, TrueID still criticized the playing style applied by coach Worrawoot as "monotonous". They wrote: "Thailand did not show diverse tactics. The players had to find ways to overcome their opponents through individual skills. We did not see any tactical imprints from the coach. Thailand's playing style is quite predictable, which is to give the ball to 11 players and wait for luck. They can move, pass or shoot freely. Thailand still plays football in a certain shape at the SEA Games. But in this tournament, they play in the opposite way."

In the final of the 31st SEA Games, Thailand lost 0-1 despite attacking more and TrueID said that this defeat haunted the team when they met Vietnam again yesterday, June 2. "Vietnamese players under Gong Oh-kyun often suffered from cramps and slept on the field. There were times when players had to go out to the field for medical care, causing Vietnam to play with 10 men, but why didn't Thailand attack at that time, but still passed the ball back and forth. Worrawoot should have loudly urged his students to attack, but the coaching staff was silent. The voice of a Thai fan in the stands was even more obvious. The coaching staff did not show determination, because they were still haunted by the defeat against Vietnam in the SEA Games final."

Thailand and Vietnam will play their second match on June 5. Vietnam will play first, at 8 p.m. against South Korea, Hanoi time. Two hours later, Thailand will play a must-win match against Malaysia.

Neymar mocks Argentina's Super Cup title

After the Finalissima victory over Italy, Argentina's players celebrated wildly in the dressing room. Some of the Albicelestes stars even chanted together to taunt Brazil: "Do you know what happened, Brazilians? The five-time World Cup champions watched Lionel Messi arrive in Rio and leave with the Copa America trophy."

These words reached Neymar's ears. The striker born in 1992 immediately responded sarcastically: "Did Argentina just win the World Cup?".

Neymar's sarcastic statement. Photo: Goal

Brazil are currently touring Asia and have just thrashed South Korea 5-1, with Neymar scoring twice. On June 6, the team ranked first in the FIFA rankings will face Japan. On the same day, Argentina will also play a friendly against Estonia.

On September 23, two powers of South American football will face off in a make-up match for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in the South American zone. Previously, this match was postponed due to an incident related to the quarantine process of some Argentine players.

Both Brazil and Argentina have already qualified for the World Cup, but that doesn't make the South American classic any less exciting. Both teams want to win to confirm their number one position.

At the 2022 World Cup, "Selecao" is in Group G with Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon, while "Albicelestes" is in an easier group with Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland.

Van Toan and Danh Trung are absent from the match against U23 Korea.

Van Toan and Danh Trung were taken for MRI scans by the team's doctors to determine the extent of their injuries. They had previously suffered injuries in the 2-2 draw with U23 Thailand on the evening of June 2 and were unable to play the entire match.

As a result, Van Toan suffered a dislocation and damage to the metacarpal bone of his left ring finger. Although the injury is not serious, it is unlikely that this goalkeeper will recover in time for the next match against U23 Korea.

As for Danh Trung, this striker was lucky to only suffer soft tissue damage to his ankle. However, Danh Trung still needs to be monitored to get the best treatment and recovery.

Van Toan left the field with a bandaged finger in the opening match against Thailand at the 2022 AFC U23 Championship. Photo:Lam Thoa

Also in the match on June 2, some U23 Vietnam players suffered from cramps, mainly the group of players who did not compete at the 31st SEA Games. This is explained by the fact that those players had spent a long time off from competing at their clubs and had just returned to training when joining the national team, so high-intensity activities would easily lead to overload. The coaching staff also had solutions to adjust and stabilize the physical strength of the whole team.

Regarding Thanh Binh, this defender has returned to normal condition, able to play in the match against U23 Korea on June 5. The remaining players also have no health problems.

The most important thing right now is that the whole team needs to recover as soon as possible. That is also the reason why Coach Gong Oh Kyun decided to let his players rest the whole day on June 3. The team will return to the training ground on the afternoon of June 4.

Hien Tung