Vietnam - Indonesia: Waiting for the 'Trump Cards'?

That fate is bringing the two teams to face each other in the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar and the 2nd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. Both have the goal of reaching out to the continent, but it seems that with the current situation, both teams are in a confrontation, one loses, one wins, with the outcome that one team will continue, while the other team will sadly stay in both of the above important campaigns.

First of all, in the 2023 ASIAN Cup, because they are both in Group D, the first and second places are very difficult to lose from Japan and Iraq, so the competition for the third place to continue forces the two teams Vietnam and Indonesia to "compete" with each other in the match tomorrow, January 19. The situation of Indonesia under Mr. Shin Tae-yong seems to be more dangerous, more vulnerable to being eliminated because since 2019, this Korean coach has not had a single expected cup for the team of the archipelago. And if not successful in the ASIAN Cup, Indonesia will be forced to replace the captain to look for opportunities in the 2nd World Cup Qualifiers when there is still time for any hope, however fragile.

Meanwhile, French coach Troussier has only officially been in charge of the Vietnam National Team and Vietnam U23 for nearly a year now. Although he was not successful with Vietnam U23 at the SEA Games, he still has a chance with Vietnam U23 at the upcoming Asian U23 Championship with the goal of finding a ticket to the 2024 Olympics, and has a clearer chance than Indonesia in the 2nd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, so if he is unlucky to stumble at the 2023 Asian Cup, everything is still under control. This makes it easier for the Vietnam National Team to play in the Asian Cup, not only after the recent impressive performance against Japan, but mainly because Philippe Troussier's mark is becoming clearer and more convincing than his opponent.

But in the end, all theories related to these two rival teams are still just familiar theories, while the reality on the field will be extremely unpredictable. Indonesia advocates using many young players, massively naturalizing foreign players and is showing many new features that cannot be ignored, as the first half of the recent Iraq-Indonesia match showed everything. If Vietnam is resilient against Japan, Indonesia is also full of confidence to play fair against Iraq. Vietnam scored 2 goals for the first time against the top team in the continent, Japan, then Indonesia with an exemplary counter-attack goal also showed that they are not easy to handle when having to endure a lot of pressure against a strong opponent, superior in physical strength as well as technique, tactics...

Therefore, the match on January 19 is considered a match with the most careful preparation, the best force and the highest will of both Vietnam and Indonesia. There is information leaking about the injuries of the pillars of the Indonesian side, not to mention the information that striker Dinh Bac of Vietnam has to practice separately as a smokescreen to distract the opponent. While the Vietnamese team is being praised by the opponent for their fighting spirit, people can easily see the "attacks" that Mr. Shin Tae-yong can launch to give advice to Mr. Troussier and his team. That is a strong and dangerous throw-in into the penalty area, and if the Vietnamese defense does not handle the first ball well from the second ball, the risk of conceding a goal is imminent. That is the tradition of attacking the flank, like the goal in the match against Iraq, so Mr. Troussier definitely has to ask his students to play tightly, cover well to effectively counterattack the flank...

This will be a high-intensity, high-impact match, and whichever side is physically fit for the entire 90 minutes and plays coherently will be the team with the chance to exploit and find the door to victory. At this point, everyone can understand why in the match with no chance of winning against Japan, the French coach left out a series of key players such as Duy Manh, Quang Hai, Van Thanh and Van Toan? Predicting that these strong players, these "trump cards" will combine with the good playing frame in the match against Japan to proactively and effectively confront Indonesia?

Another thing that needs to be said is that for a long time, many people have been slandering the story of the Vietnamese team's ball control, the story of not having the ball but playing against strong opponents. Remember the goal Vietnam lost in the match against Iraq in the last minute of extra time, the fault of Van Lam quickly kicking the ball up and being "rebounded" in a split second? Then in the third goal lost against Japan, Nguyen Filip himself admitted his mistake because he hastily kicked the ball up and repeated the same situation of losing. Does that mean that if he had controlled the ball, he definitely would not have let in the two very unfortunate goals mentioned above?

Even in the upcoming match against Indonesia, the requirement of ball control is still strictly set, because that is to prevent the opponent from counter-attacking, to proactively open up all attacking opportunities. Things against Indonesia will not be easy, but the Vietnam team will achieve the goal of 3 points if they maintain initiative, confidence, high determination combined with a "cool head" to overcome all inevitable difficulties and obstacles./.