Coach Park's calculations in the first match of AFF Cup 2022

What is Mr. Park planning for his final tournament as coach of the Vietnam National Team? Photo: Hai Hoang

The first surprise was that 7,000 fans, mostly Vietnamese people living and working in Laos, came to the capital Vientiane to cheer for Coach Park Hang-seo and his team. This turned the Lao National Stadium into My Dinh Stadium and it only took Tien Linh 15 minutes to score his first goal.

Not happy when Quang Hai strains his muscle

The next thing was that coach Park Hang-seo let Quang Hai enter the field after atime playing abroad to assemble the team. But it seems that the medical department did not correctly assess the situation, causing this player to have a muscle strain and had to leave the field early after only 34 minutes of play. It is likely that Quang Hai will not be able to play in the match against Malaysia and the story of SEA Games 2019 will haunt fans again. Quang Hai is still the most important player in the attack of the Vietnam National Team, the player who can turn the situation around.

Tien Linh is the optimal choice for the striker position. Photo: Bongdaplus

It seems that with the 3-4-3 tactical formation, Tien Linh is the optimal choice for the target striker position, due to his advantage in physique, tactical thinking and goal-scoring sensitivity. Meanwhile, the trio of central defenders Que Ngoc Hai, Duy Manh and Thanh Chung have been "nailed" in the mind of the Korean coach, Viet Anh and Thanh Binh are just backup options, although they have made continuous progress in recent times.

The highlight of the 6-0 victory was that the two full-backs scored, including Van Hau, who scored his first goal for the national team after many years of fighting. For a long time, this defender was only mentioned for his accurate crosses, but now he knows how to score goals himself. Van Hau also played much more restrainedly than when he played for Hanoi FC.

After the match, Quang Hai suffered a muscle strain. Photo: Hai Hoang

The captain's armband at the AFF Cup 2022 was given to Hung Dung and he played in the central midfield with Hoang Duc, he showed his ability to recover the ball very well, this time he also scored. Obviously, Mr. Park can rest assured when facing a strong Thai midfield, Captain midfielder Theerathon is a player who plays with many tricks. In our opinion, Coach Alexandre Pölking moved him from the left wing to the central midfield position, playing with Saracha for the match against the Vietnam National Team.

Hide cards

This was a match in which Mr. Park used all 5 substitutions, Van Thanh and Van Toan both scored, showing a positive sign in the attack. Although Van Duc did not score after 65 minutes on the field, the players on the bench did it for him. This made the fans feel secure, although Mr. Park is known for being conservative, he still has quality cards on hand when needed.

Coach Kim Pan-gon and the Malaysian players sitting in the stands watched this match very carefully. But with the slow pace of the game, the Vietnamese players did not chase the ball so the opponents could not know much about our attacks. Tuan Hai, Coach Park's new card at this AFF Cup, only played sparingly to avoid being exposed early. This was a fairly easy match, no player was carded so it can be considered complete, except for the situation where Quang Hai had to leave the field due to a muscle strain.

It seems that Mr. Park will “renew” the old players rather than putting on the field from the beginning new factors such as Van Quyet and Tuan Hai. Perhaps, Mr. Park is calculating something for the last tournament in his position as coach of the Vietnam National Team.