Coach Hoang Anh Tuan: 'Vietnamese football needs to act for young players to aim for the World Cup'
(Baonghean.vn) - After the heavy loss to Olympic Iran, coach Hoang Anh Tuan explained the reason and said that Vietnamese football is focusing on the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, so it needs to act for young players.
On the evening of September 21, the Vietnamese Olympic team failed to cause a surprise against strong opponent Olympic Iran in the second match of Group B of the 2023 ASIAD men's football event.
The 0-4 defeat showed the huge gap in skill and mentality between the Vietnamese Olympic players and Iran. After the match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan congratulated his opponents:
"I want to congratulate Olympic Iran, they completely dominated this match and deservedly won. Olympic Vietnam still has a chance in the match against Olympic Saudi Arabia in 3 days. My students and I must forget this match and focus on the final match of the group stage," said coach Hoang Anh Tuan.
Explaining why Vietnam Olympic team conceded goals at the beginning of the match, leading to a loss of game control and spirit, coach Hoang Anh Tuan said: "This is our problem. I told the players to focus at the beginning and end of the match.
I stressed that before this tournament, but they did not do well because of the pressure of a strong team. The team has another chance, I need the players to control the game from the first minutes. These mistakes when the tournament ends and when we return home need to be corrected and changed."
With a heavy loss to Iran, the Vietnam Olympic team is at risk of being eliminated in the group stage, but coach Hoang Anh Tuan affirmed that he will continue to persevere in the direction of giving maximum opportunities to young players to mature.
"This is a strategic project of the Vietnam Football Federation. We bring young players here as the youngest team in this tournament. We need time, we need this tournament for the players to challenge themselves and develop their skills.
Our vision is long term, for next year and beyond with a focus on the 2026 and 2030 World Cup campaigns, so it is important to act for young players..The focus of the strategy is on young players," coach Hoang Anh Tuan emphasized.
Vietnam Olympic dropped to 3rd place with 3 points, the same goal difference of -2. Iran Olympic took the lead with 4 points like Saudi Arabia Olympic, but with a goal difference of +4 compared to the opponent's +3.
After losing to Olympic Iran, Olympic Vietnam has 3 days to prepare for the final group stage match against Saudi Arabia at 6:30 p.m. on September 24.