Vietnam team with the motto 'know yourself, know your enemy'

In which, all roads are leading to the journey of the Vietnam Team from the 2nd Qualifying Round and the 3rd Qualifying Round, starting from November 2023.

The reason for saying so is because from V-League 1 and 2, national youth teams such as U17, U20 to U23 Vietnam, overseas Vietnamese players... will all concentrate the best and most suitable personnel for the Vietnam National Team under the responsibility of Mr. Philipe Troussier.

Completely different from before, the current national team is giving priority to young players, regardless of whether they are playing in V-League 1 or V-League 2, in the Second Division (V-League 3) and even in the national U21 youth tournament as seen before. Also unlike before, those who regularly "eat the national team's rice" may not have an advantage before each call-up if they are not really suitable for the new playing style and new philosophy of the team. And the story of a series of key players under Park Hang-seo being left out of the list twice, of course, makes it extremely difficult for them to be named in the most important World Cup Qualifiers that the team is focusing on and aiming for.

It is precisely because the eliminated players are “empty land” for a series of young players that Mr. Troussier has called up to the Vietnam National Team more than once. In fact, calling up young players to the national team but not or rarely playing is a daily occurrence in previous national teams. Mr. Park Hang-seo himself called Van Toan, Van Khang... to the Vietnam National Team but mainly just to get used to the team atmosphere, just as long-term reserve players “planned” for the long haul.

Under Mr. Troussier, the story of young factors has a completely different nature. Outstanding young factors such as Tuan Tai, Thai Son or Van Khang not only come off the bench when joining the Vietnam National Team but also start playing, playing with all their strength. Thai Son's case will certainly be talked about a lot because this is the discovery of the French coach from SEA Games 32 and then brought from U23 Vietnam straight to compete officially in the Vietnam National Team. Having been trained in V-League, challenged through many international tournaments at regional and continental levels, and being properly oriented in the long term, factors such as: Thai Son, Tuan Tai, Van Khang... are the pillars in the squad to conquer the prestigious ticket that Vietnamese football is aiming for every hour, every minute.

Notably, the young players who are potential candidates for a starting position in the current Vietnam National Team are actually not… young when they step onto the big stage. From the curriculum, training regime, training, to official competitions and international friendlies of the young players, it shows that they have been exposed, learned, and played football at a high level, with much stricter requirements than before. That is to say, in reality, this generation of young players from the training centers of Hanoi FC, PVF, Viettel, Song Lam Nghe An or Hoang Anh Gia Lai… have all gone through the process of competing at the regional and continental levels, with failures, with successes, and when they were “promoted” to the Vietnam National Team, everything was almost prepared, fully programmed and accurate compared to the strict requirements being set. That is the way to “know yourself” that the French coach is doing, from the first gathering, playing a friendly match against Hong Kong-China and the continuous process after that.

Obviously, the way Mr. Troussier operates the Vietnam National Team also shows its own unique features that have never been seen before. Vietnamese football has gone through a long journey of searching for a philosophy of playing football according to the characteristics and traits of the people and culture of the country, then learning models and ways of the world. Learning from Brazil is not wrong, but the main thing is that no one can learn if they do not have the innate and unique "instinct" to play football like the people of the Samba land. Learning from Japan or Korea is also very correct because they almost have the same starting point as us, the only difference is that we cannot keep up with their terrifying speed of growth compared to the world, when players like Son Heung-min have been and are making waves in the world's best tournament, the Premier League, and currently there is not only Son Heung-min or Mitoma but many Asian players are shining in Europe...

The point worth discussing is that this October, the Vietnam National Team that we are talking about with a radical rejuvenation will have the opportunity to face Son Heung-min and many players playing in Europe will join the Korean National Team in a friendly match. The real and very difficult to narrow gap between the top teams in the continent like Korea and Vietnam is something that everyone must admit. So why did Mr. Troussier choose China, then Uzbekistan, and then Korea to "test" his students? Is that the way the teacher and his students "know the enemy" through this series of the most important friendly matches?

The Chinese team is not a very difficult opponent when Quang Hai and his teammates have faced each other twice in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup and had a memorable 3-1 victory at My Dinh Stadium. Quang Hai and his teammates certainly have not forgotten the regrettable defeat in the white snow of Changzhou in 2018? And Korea is a real force that if Son Heung-min plays "with all his might" then... That means the Vietnamese players after being selected and rejuvenated will take turns entering the match to regain themselves compared to their past achievements, where they will really reach, to what extent with the results, objective and accurate statistics.

And whoever can maintain their achievements, whoever is strong enough to stand firm against the top “mountains” of the continent…, will of course be named in the army advancing to the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers of the Vietnam National Team. And for any army that always “knows the enemy, knows itself” clearly, the story of “a hundred battles, a hundred victories” will always be more feasible than ever!

Bui Hoa