Vietnam stopped at the round of 16 of the FIFA Futsal World Cup

Facing the world's third-ranked opponent Russia, the Vietnamese team suffered a 0-7 defeat despite playing hard and creating many opportunities.

Before entering the match with Russia, coach Bruno Garcia Formoso asked the players to play focused and fiercely, with a comprehensive defense. The huge difference in class did not allow him and his students to think of other options. Russia had easily defeated the strongest futsal team in Southeast Asia, Thailand, with a score of 6-4 in the group stage. In their current squad, there are four naturalized Brazilian players, most notably Eder Lima with his famous magical left foot.

It was this player who assisted Chishkala to open the scoring with a close-range tap-in in the third minute. Before that, at the 18th second, another Brazilian player, Robinho, threatened the goal ofNgo Dinh Thuan hit the ball against the crossbar.

Facing a superior Russian team, Vietnam appeared small and could not create any surprises. Photo: Quang Thang.

The goal left Vietnam in a quandary. They couldn’t attack, nor defend. All coach Bruno’s players had to do was brace themselves against the Russian team’s fast, agile and powerful attacks. However, in the ninth minute, Dinh Thuan’s net had to rise for the second time, after Abramovich’s close-range header.

Coach Bruno immediately consulted and made a surprising decision: using the power-play tactic, pushing goalkeeper Ngo Dinh Thuan, who was very good at playing with his feet, up to play. Being constantly besieged forced the Spanish strategist to apply this special tactic, in order to help his students have more of the ball and regain their confidence.Ngoc Son and Thai Huy also had chances, but not accurate enough to defeat goalkeeper Gustavo. After a few risky minutes, the Vietnamese teamhad to return to a defensive style of play to conserve energy. However, before the end of the first half, goalkeeper Ngo Dinh Thuan had to score twice more in the 13th and 18th minutes.

Coach Bruno and his team won the sympathy of the Colombian people in their first World Cup competition. Photo: Quang Thang.

After the break, coach Bruno sent in second goalkeeper Van Huy. He probably anticipated that the home team would not be able to turn the game around, and wanted to give Van Huy – who had a big part in finding a ticket to the World Cup – a chance to experience playing in the World Cup. However, those were not easy minutes for Van Huy. In the 21st minute, he let Nilazov kick the ball through the gap between his legs, increasing the gap to 5-0 for Russia.

The rest of the second half was no different. The Russian team still held the initiative, while Vietnam focused on defense and occasionally organized counterattacks. There were opportunities for the players in white, but Xuan Du and Van Vu could not defeat goalkeeper Gustavo, and Ngoc Son shot over the bar in a comfortable position. On the contrary, despite playing leisurely, Russia still scored two more goals in the 30th and 37th minutes.

Saying goodbye to the World Cup, Vietnamese futsal players will certainly gain many useful lessons for the future. Photo: Quang Thang.

The defeat against the third-ranked team in the world was predictable for the Vietnamese team, but what coach Bruno and his players showed was something to be proud of. They were the youngest team in the tournament, but they defeated the higher-ranked team Guatemala in the opening match, then fought back against Paraguay and the fourth-ranked team Italy, on their journey to the round of 16 in their first appearance at the World Cup.

According to VNE