Que Ngoc Hai is the captain of the Vietnamese team; Thai fans admit that their country's football is out of date.
(Baonghean.vn) - Coach Park Hang-seo appointed the staff of the Vietnamese team in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers; Thai fans are pessimistic about the future of their country's football after consecutive defeats against Vietnam in recent times.
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Que Ngoc Hai practices heading the ball during a training session on the evening of August 27 at the VFF Youth Football Training Center. Photo:Lam Thoa. |
There are two veterans, Nguyen Anh Duc and Nguyen Trong Hoang, but Mr. Park still gave the captain's armband to Que Ngoc Hai. At the 2019 Asian Cup, the central defender from Nghe An also held this responsibility when Nguyen Van Quyet was not called up.
Nguyen Van Toan is serving as vice-captain for the second time. Previously, he also took on this role at the King's Cup. The HAGL player's selection is reasonable because he is one of the most watchable domestic strikers in V-League 2019, with seven goals.
Compared to the King's Cup, the Vietnamese executive committee only had one change. Do Hung Dung was chosen to replace Nguyen Quang Hai as vice-captain. At the Hanoi Club recently, this midfielder was also trusted to wear the captain's armband when Nguyen Van Quyet was not on the field.
On the evening of August 27, the Vietnamese team had their first training session to prepare for the match against Thailand in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup - Asia region. However, coach Park Hang-seo does not have enough players to practice. Cong Phuong is still playing in Belgium, five players on the payroll of Hanoi are stuck in the second leg of the AFC Cup inter-zone semi-final.
Hanoi sets unprecedented record in AFC Cup history
The AFC Cup is a lower level tournament than the AFC Champions League in the list of Asian club-level cups. In the history of this tournament, which has been held since 2004, Vietnamese football has never had a club reach the inter-zone final.
By defeating Altyn Asyr (Turkmenistan), Hanoi FC became the first Vietnamese team to reach the final of this magnitude. To reach the AFC Cup final, coach Chu Dinh Nghiem's team needs to defeat the winner of the match between Abahani Dhaka (Bangladesh) and 25/4 (DPRK).
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| Quang Hai and his teammates have created a new step forward for Hanoi FC at the AFC Cup. Photo: Minh Chien. |
The first leg will take place on September 25, with the return match taking place a week later. If they advance, Hanoi FC will face the winner of the match between Al-Jazeera (Jordan) and Al-Ahed (Lebanon) in the final on November 2.
Previously, the AFC Cup was organized as a cup competition similar to the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League in Europe. If calculated according to this format, Vietnam has another representative who came close to the final match besides Hanoi FC in 2019.
That was Binh Duong FC in the 2009 AFC Cup season. That year, the team from the capital reached the semi-finals. Tran Chi Cong and Philani even helped Binh Duong beat Al-Karamah (Syria) 2-1 in the first leg.
However, in the return match in West Asia, Binh Duong lost 0-3 and had to stop. Since then, the best achievement of Vietnamese teams in the AFC Cup is the quarter-finals.
In 2010, Da Nang FC lost to Al-Riffa (Bahrain) with a total score of 3-8 in the AFC Cup quarter-finals. In 2014, Ha Noi FC lost to Erbil (Iraq) 0-3, Ninh Binh FC lost to Kitchee (Hong Kong, China) 3-4 also in the quarter-finals. However, this threshold was finally broken by Coach Chu Dinh Nghiem's team with excellent performance in the 2019 AFC Cup.
Thai fans admit their country's football is over after losing to Vietnam
As champions in three consecutive tournaments, the Thai women's team, as hosts of the 2019 AFF Cup, is full of hope to win the Southeast Asian championship for the fourth year.
However, in the final match, host Thailand was completely helpless against the Vietnamese women's team. The 0-1 defeat left coach Naruephon Kaenson and his team sadly watching their opponents win the championship right on their home field.
Sharing on the personal page of the Football Association of Thailand (FA Thailand), Thai fans expressed disappointment with the women's team's loss.
"Lose again?", fan Wattanachai Sritham sadly asked.
"We lost to Vietnam at every level, oh my god", Ksport Juntima account disappointedly.
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| Thailand women's team defeated Vietnam right on their home field. |
"Vietnamese football has developed strongly in recent years, while we are still standing still," Kanchon fan commented.
In 2019, Vietnamese football made Thailand regret three times. The first was the match in the U23 Asian qualifiers. Coach Park Hang-seo's team had a historic victory over U23 Thailand with a score of 4-0 at My Dinh.
At the national team level, Coach Park also did not give the Thai people a chance to celebrate with a 1-0 victory at the King's Cup.
On August 27, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team continued the glorious year of Vietnamese football with a 1-0 victory in the AFF Women's Cup final, thereby turning Thailand into the former champion right on their home field.
After the AFF Women's Cup final, fans will turn their attention to September 5, when the Vietnamese men's team will face host Thailand in the opening match of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
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