Vietnam team won but not happy

(Baonghean.vn) - Before leaving for training in Korea, the Vietnam National Team will play 3 friendly matches with the following opponents: FC Seoul, Korean Students and a local university team. According to calculations, these are the heavy tests in descending order for Coach Nguyen Huu Thang and his team. However, it seems that the Vietnam National Team's plan has been 'offside'...

First of all, it must be said that Coach Nguyen Huu Thang’s choice of Korea as a training location was a right move. The land of kimchi not only has perfect conditions for training, accommodation and injury recovery for the players. But when stationed here, the Vietnam National Team will avoid as much as possible the “slander” of public opinion and the media during the most important stage of preparation for the AFF Cup 2016 campaign.

If we look at the teams that the Vietnam National Team has played in friendly matches, with the undefeated results that we have achieved, there is reason to be secretly happy. However, in reality, it is not like that.

The Vietnam national team still has 2 friendly matches ahead to be able to attend the AFF Cup at the peak of their form...

FC Seoul is a club with a rich tradition in Korea. This season, they even reached the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League. This team is expected to bring the most valuable lessons to the Vietnam National Team. But unfortunately for the Vietnam National Team, at the time of facing the Vietnam National Team, FC Seoul had just gone through a sweaty match in the AFC Champions League, just 1 day before.

As a result, the “big guy” of Korean football had no choice but to field a squad consisting of all the reserve players or the youth team. On October 22, the match was expected to be an important rehearsal for the AFF Cup 2016. The Vietnamese team took the field with the main squad and FC Seoul quickly lost 3-0. Coach Nguyen Huu Thang’s first plan went up in smoke, winning but not very happy.

In addition, Korean students are also mostly at the same level as professional players. Meeting Korean students is a good opportunity for Coach Huu Thang to test new factors and tactics. But contrary to expectations, the Vietnam team missed the chance to rematch this team. Instead, Coach Nguyen Huu Thang and his team were arranged to play a friendly match with Jeonju University - a university in Paju, then Pocheon FC in the last match before returning home.

And on October 25 against Jeonju University, Huu Thang and his team faced many difficulties in terms of personnel. Taking the field with a not-so-strong squad, the Vietnamese team took a 1-0 lead, then squandered the opportunity and let the other team equalize. The red team could have even lost if goalkeeper Nguyen Manh had not blocked the penalty kick in the last minute of the match.

Coach Nguyen Huu Thang is hoping for defender Tran Dinh Hoang's ability to recover and participate in the AFF Cup 2016.

On October 27, the Vietnamese team played their last match in Korea against Pocheon FC. This club did not play at full strength against the Vietnamese team as they had just finished 19 rounds in the Korean third division and were about to play the final match in early November. Fans were not very happy when the team won 5-2.

The Vietnamese national team is known as invincible, but surely coach Huu Thang will hardly be satisfied with the training trip to Korea.

Because the opponents that the Vietnam national team has faced are all quite easy to play and have not met the purpose of the competition that this coach wants. And it can be said that he is more worried than happy...

And with such preparation, perhaps the Nghe An strategist is eagerly waiting for the match with Indonesia on November 8 and the Japanese club Avispa Fukuoka (November 12) to most accurately evaluate the abilities of his students and choose the 23 most worthy names for the AFF Cup 2016.

Regarding injuries, although Ngoc Hai has recovered earlier than expected, it is still uncertain whether he will be able to participate in the AFF Cup 2016. "Drill" Dinh Hoang will likely have to undergo knee surgery and leave the national team due to his increasingly complicated injury. The recovery of another player, Vo Huy Toan, is also not very good.

Hoai Hoan

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