The next 'golden generation' of Vietnamese football, who are you?

What the U22 and U20 players have gathered through the time of training and playing international friendlies with the French coach, such as new philosophy, new playing style, and hot lessons after defeats against big opponents, which are in dire need of continued practice to make things clearer, must temporarily give way to familiarity and old practices from previous domestic tournaments.

It is worth mentioning that the upcoming V. League will only take place for 3 rounds, including rounds 5, 6 and 7, then take a break so that U23 Vietnam can focus on the campaign to defend the SEA Games Gold Medal in Cambodia. Up to now, it is unclear whether U23 will disband after the continental friendly tournament to "release" all the players to the home team, or will they still gather in the old way to prepare for the big match? There is not much time, that is, only nearly 1 month until the men's football SEA Games kicks off, and it is also unknown whether Mr. Phillippe Troussier will only use the Doha Cup competition framework to fight and win in the regional youth playground, or will he continue to supplement the force from the actual competition of the 3 meager rounds of the upcoming V-League?

People are talking about not being sad or worried about the matches in a friendly tournament, especially with a young team just getting used to the new playing style of a new coach? People are also talking about whether the new coach will stick with the new direction after the inevitable initial stumbles or will he have to adjust to suit the physique, fitness, habits, and long-standing strengths of Vietnamese football when entering the big playgrounds?

In fact, “you can’t make glue without flour” is a never-ending story in life and in football. In Vietnam, the story of the “golden generation” is to honor a generation of talented players, gradually bringing Vietnamese football to the regional stage, gradually advancing to the continent as it is today.

Since sports in general and football in particular re-integrated into the region, the generation of Hong Son, Huynh Duc, Cong Minh... brought Vietnamese football from average to the top of the region, although still facing difficulties with Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia or Singapore. The generation of Cong Vinh, Hong Son, Tai Em, Minh Phuong... helped football win the AFF Cup in 2008, but unfortunately, rare talents of the same period such as Van Quyen, Quoc Vuong... could not contribute due to making unforgivable mistakes. The recent generation of Quang Hai, Cong Phuong, Hoang Duc... together brought Vietnamese football to win the SEA Games Gold Medal, just won the AFF Cup 2018, very proud, creating a brilliant cycle of success for Vietnamese football in the region and advancing to the continent, very close to a ticket to the World Cup although in fact it is not an easy step to overcome at this time?

And when Mr. Troussier was entrusted with the task of leading the U23 Vietnam and the Vietnam National Team, it was to find the best and fastest way to level that gap/ladder in the continent and the familiar region. The task is very heavy, that is, something that the last successful cycle could not overcome, then unfortunately, the current successor force of Vietnamese football cannot be said to create peace of mind and trust to complete the goal ahead. Of course, Quang Hai and Hoang Duc will continue to contribute, but after what was seen at the Doha Cup and the upcoming SEA Games, can the current U23 generation prove that they are the next true "golden generation" to do, to do better than the previous generations?

Of course, we are quite assured with the recent matches of the U20 team at a continental tournament and Van Truong, Van Khang, Quoc Viet, Duc Viet… are showing a lot of new potential and hope. But they cannot and cannot be the backbone of the current U23 team, while the new playing style and new philosophy are causing the seniors in the U23 age group or the U20 team to lose themselves in real combat against high-class opponents, something that the seniors previously did quite well in continental tournaments when playing with traditional, familiar playing styles.

Previously, when he had the AFF Cup in hand, foreign coach Calistore also sought a style of play that controlled the ball, played on par with the top opponents in the region but failed. This time, Mr. Troussier continued to open that direction from the U23 team and immediately failed miserably. The only difference is that the French coach has past success as a foundation, has time to support, has opportunities to allow, so he can persevere and be steadfast in the face of all initial challenges. The main thing is that the coach must "revive" the strength of the Quang Hai and Hoang Duc generations, must "wash" new potential factors from Van Khang and Van Truong, and search for and create successors from the U20, U19, and even the U17 teams that are being supplemented by quality training centers. In short, it must be a new golden generation, capable of winning tickets to the World Cup, able to play in a way that is both capable of controlling, attacking, attacking or anything else, and also famously defending, counter-attacking brilliantly according to the Vietnamese style of play, the Vietnamese philosophy?

Hoa Bui