U22 Vietnam's gold dream shattered

(Baonghean.vn) - Choosing the peak of form for the decisive match with U22 Indonesia but only getting a draw has caused us difficulties.

Winning 13 gold medals in the last 18 SEA Games is proof that Thai football is on a different level compared to the rest of Southeast Asia.

Surprisingly, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia have all defeated this "giant", but Vietnam... has not. The team from the Golden Temple has failed several times in the group stage, but has never fallen at the feet of the Vietnamese players.

The difference between the two teams was most evident in the period 1995-2005, when Thailand “snatched” all 4 gold medals from Vietnam when they faced each other in four final matches. Vietnam even scored only one goal from Van Quyen at My Dinh Stadium in 2003.

They only weakened during the SEA Games - a playground for the U23 team since 2001. The team from the Golden Temple had to pack their bags and return home right from the group stage in 2009 and 2011.

But this afternoon's match between U22 Thailand showed why they are still a big team in the region, from the way they play, the bravery of the players and the leadership of coach Worrawoot Srimaka. Too classy!

Goalkeeper, the fatal flaw is foretold

The same thing happened at this SEA Games, until before meeting Vietnam, in the 4 group stage matches, coach Worrawoot Srimaka had not shown his strength as he is known for. Thailand showed their intention to attack first to win 3 points when pushing their squad up quite high, they pressed all over the field.

Meanwhile, Coach Huu Thang’s players played rather slowly, thanks to the ball control ability of the duo Xuan Truong and Tuan Anh. Huu Thang did not hide his intention to arrange up to 6 HAGL players in the starting lineup, who have faced young Thai players for many years in order to control their opponents.

Vietnamese fans' "golden dream" is shattered again. Photo: Internet

Coach Worrawoot instructed Worachit and defender Sasalak to continuously penetrate the right wing, where Van Thanh was stationed. In the first half, Thailand was the team that pressed the field and had more possession of the ball, but the most dangerous situation on the field belonged to Vietnam when Tuan Tai's shot hit the post of goalkeeper Nont Muangngam's goal from a through ball from Van Toan.

But in the 45th minute, due to the lack of concentration of goalkeeper Minh Long, receiving the ball from Tuan Anh's pass, he gave Thailand an indirect free kick about 7-8 meters from the goal. Phitiwat Sukjitthammakul did not miss this opportunity and shot hard into the near corner, making the Vietnamese net score 1-0.

During the preparation for the 29th SEA Games, the goalkeeper position of U22 Vietnam has consumed a lot of newspaper articles, both Tien Dung and Phi Long left fans feeling insecure. At the beginning of the second half, Phi Minh Long left the goal to fight for the ball when there were still 2 defenders in front of him, allowing Phicha Autra to easily kick the ball into the empty goal, raising the score to 2-0.

The stronger team won

Even in the 66th minute, when Rattanakorn committed a foul leading to a penalty kick, Cong Phuong - the best player of the Vietnamese team - also kicked the ball high into the sky, showing how tense the players were when facing the Thais.

Cong Phuong and his teammates had a disappointing SEA Games. Photo: Internet

A few minutes later, captain Chenrop Samphaodi came from behind Van Hau to score a goal past Minh Long, making it 3-0. The goal showed the class of a top striker in Southeast Asia.

After 3 resounding victories, no Vietnamese fans could believe that the Vietnamese team would be eliminated early. Even the “golden dream” was very close to us, the belief of a gold medal in men's football was getting closer and closer.

But the true strength of the Vietnamese team was only revealed when facing two equally strong opponents, Indonesia and Thailand. Having an extra player for 30 minutes, spending a lot of energy, but in the end, we only got a 0-0 result and continued to be "weak in battery and spirit" and lost 0-3 to Thailand in the next match.

The fact that Coach Huu Thang and his team only needed a draw to advance, but they had to pack their bags and return home early, shows the huge gap between them and Thai football. Surely, after the match, the press will continue to dissect this shameful defeat, and the story of whether the coach is domestic or foreign will be brought up again.

On the other side, Coach Worrawoot took on the responsibility of defending the SEA Games gold medal quite quietly. U22 Thailand did not need to spend too much effort against weaker opponents, only putting all their efforts into decisive matches. That is the level of a big team in Southeast Asia.

An Thanh