Hang Day Stadium: 5 goals again, why not?

Fans are waiting for a rain of goals in the “Park-ball” era. On the Vietnamese team, apart from coach Mai Duc Chung who left to work in women’s football, Thanh Trung and Mac Hong Quan, the players who scored the winning goal in that match, were not called up to the team. However, Van Quyet, Anh Duc and Cong Phuong are still there. Perhaps the match against Cambodia is a very good opponent for the captain to regain the feeling of playing football with 54 matches for the team.

History favors Vietnam

On the other side, Brazilian coach Leonardo Vitorino also parted ways with the Cambodian team after this heavy defeat, leaving many plans unfinished. Star Chan Vathanaka will still play, but new coach Honda will direct the match via mobile phone. Simply put, coach Honda must play for Melbourne Victory in the away match against Sydney FC, in the framework of round 5 of the A-League (Australian National Championship) right after that.

Keo Sokpheng (9) can speak fluent Vietnamese and Khmer, so he can act as a "spy" when listening to the coaching staff and Vietnamese players talking on the field. Photo: Internet

Team captain Soeuy Visal said that thanks to Honda's presence, Cambodian players play more confidently and enthusiastically. "Although there is not much difference between Honda and previous coaches, the special thing is that Honda is still a player so his ability to communicate and demonstrate is better. The players feel empathy and sharing," Visal said.

In terms of history, the Cambodian team has never won against Vietnam. In the past 2 years, they have only had 3 wins, including 2 matches against Laos. The recent victory against Laos was also Cambodia's first victory in this tournament since the 2002 Tiger Cup.

In the AFF Cup, the 2-1 score 2 years ago was considered the “best” in the history of the confrontation between the two neighboring opponents because at that time the Vietnamese team was sure to have a ticket to the semi-finals, Coach Huu Thang instructed his students to be patient. In the 5 encounters in the AFF Cup, we scored 29 goals, an average of 4.83 goals/match, and only conceded 3 goals.

Interestingly, midfielder Keo Sokpheng (9), the player who scored the winning goal 3-1 against the Laos team, is a Cambodian of Vietnamese origin with a lob. Keo Sokpheng was born in 1972, his father is Chinese of Vietnamese origin, his mother was born and raised in Tay Ninh. The player can speak both Vietnamese and Khmer fluently, so he can act as a "spy" when listening to the coaching staff and Vietnamese players talking on the field. In addition to striker Chan Vathanaka who has scored 2 goals, perhaps this is the next "danger" that the team's coaching staff needs to pay attention to.

High pressing

Coach Honda has just helped the Cambodian team have their first victory since the 2002 Tiger Cup. Photo: Internet

The Vietnamese team is playing “Park-ball”, a style of football that is unpredictable and relatively emotional. “Park-ball” was successfully tested at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship and the 18th ASIAD and fundamentally changed the mentality of the players on the field. The most important point of “Park-ball” is to control the opponent’s play without necessarily controlling the ball.

On the other side, Coach Keisuke Honda is also inspiring his juniors. In 3 matches, Cambodia played with 3 different tactical formations. Against Malaysia, they played 4-1-4-1, but when playing away to Myanmar, they switched to 4-3-2-1, and when they needed to win against Laos, they switched to 4-3-3. Cambodia is also the only team at the AFF Cup that rotates their goalkeepers, and all 6 goals conceded were the fault of both goalkeepers, who were clumsy in front of the goal, especially in high ball situations.

It is difficult to know which 11 players will be selected by Mr. Park in the starting lineup, but we will definitely play “high pressing”. Center back Hong Pheng (25) and captain Soeuy Visal (5) will have a hard time with veteran Anh Duc, who has a good chance of scoring against this neighboring team.

The previous coaches of the Vietnam team have scored approximately 5 goals/match in confrontations with Cambodia, when the opponent has both "teachers and workers", why not when they only have an "online" coach with the "Park-ball" style of play? We will control both the game and ball control, take advantage of long-range shots, break into the penalty area and fight in the air to not give the Cambodian players a chance to threaten Van Lam's goal.