Winning AFF Cup 2018, what next?

Miracles and achievements

The writer would like to start the story from the meeting between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the Vietnam National Team after winning the AFF Cup 2018. When the Prime Minister shook hands with almost all the coaching staff and players, he suddenly asked "boss" Duc (Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc) why he was not present.

"Today, everyone is here, including "boss" Hien (Mr. Do Quang Hien), but why is "boss" Duc not here?" - the Prime Minister said. After praising the Vietnamese team, the Prime Minister talked about the role of people like "boss" Hien and "boss" Duc. The Prime Minister also affirmed that "boss" Duc and "boss" Hien are both dedicated people and have contributed a lot to Vietnamese football. The Prime Minister highly appreciated the clubs that have trained a generation of highly qualified players, contributing many talented players to the team, including the great contributions of "boss" Duc and "boss" Hien...

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To be fair, the success of Vietnamese football in recent times has been systematic, bearing the silent contributions and efforts of “boss” Duc and “boss Hien”. And the core of the national team in recent years has been mainly made up of the two training centers HAGL and Hanoi, along with other training centers such as SLNA, Viettel, PVF…

Starting with the Vietnam U19 team with Quang Hai, Tien Dung, Van Hau... winning big at the 2016 U19 Asian Cup, creating a miracle when they won a ticket to a World Cup for the first time. At the U23 Asian Cup, it was another miracle when we dramatically defeated strong teams, reaching the final match. Experts called this a miracle because it brought together all the elements of luck, favorable time, favorable location, harmony and almost only happened once, very difficult to repeat. Not long after, the Vietnam Olympic team continued to impress, entering the semi-finals of an Asian Games for the first time, playing on par with Japan and Korea.

Vietnam national football team won the AFF Cup 2018. The moment the entire Vietnamese nation has been waiting for 10 years. Photo: Trung Kien

The Vietnam national football team entered the AFF Cup 2018 campaign with the pressure of winning the championship mixed with the confidence gained from previous successes in the continental arena. With a talented generation of players, considered by the whole of Southeast Asia as the golden generation, the championship after 10 years is extremely impressive, from defeating Malaysia in the group stage, winning the Philippines in the semi-finals and knocking out Malaysia in the two finals. All took place smoothly and within the calculations of coach Park Hang-seo.

It is undeniable that Mr. Park has a veteran, flexible and pragmatic coaching talent, but it must also be emphasized that the Korean coach came to Vietnam at a time when this football scene had just experienced a series of failures. After the 29th SEA Games and the 2016 AFF Cup, the young players reached maturity and were trained from bitter failures and expensive lessons. And Coach Park is the one who both inherited and worked hard to clean up. In terms of expertise, Coach Park has fully exploited the team's strength, leading to consecutive successes. That is the ability to play defensive - counter-attacking with a tactical formation of 3 central defenders, 2 full-backs, 2 central midfielders and 1 striker.

The silence after the peak of glory

At the AFF Cup 2018, Thailand brought disappointment when they stopped at the semi-finals against Malaysia. However, the Malaysian media also rated this team as number 1 in Southeast Asia. Everything would be completely different if Thailand had the full star quartet of Chanathip Songkrasin, Teerasil Dangda, Kawin Thamsatchanan and Theerathon Bunmathan in the recent tournament.

While Vietnam lifted the AFF Cup, which Thailand had won 5 times and 3 times as runner-up, Chanathip Songkrasin was included in the typical squad of 11 best players of J.League (the highest tournament of Japanese football). Currently, Thai Messi is playing for Sapporo Club, the former team of former Vietnam national team striker Le Cong Vinh. This is the first time in history that a Southeast Asian player has been honored in the best squad of the season in J.League.

Thailand is still one step ahead of regional football and has succeeded in sending players “overseas” to play in Europe and Asia. In the Asian playground and World Cup qualifiers, Thailand has not been successful, but looking at the youth training system, the operating model of the clubs and the quality of the national championship, it is still a dream for Vietnamese football. For any football, the quality of the domestic tournament is the backbone of a team.

Referring to the Prime Minister's meeting with the Vietnam National Team, the Prime Minister also noted that integrity must be maintained in the work of the VFF. Anyone who does anything that affects the honor and reputation of Vietnamese football will be dealt with.

“There is nothing that the Prime Minister does not know about the VFF. To build, there must be professionalism. I suggest that the VFF must have good policies, good players and coaches for Vietnamese football to develop sustainably.”

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized.

Hanoi's achievements at the AFC Champions League will be the face of Vietnamese football in 2019. Photo: VPF

Vietnamese audiences are used to the scandals in national championships such as referees, violent matches, internal disputes within VFF, VPF or between bosses. The organization of the Vietnam Football Federation and the direction of football are still vague and heavily "seasonal". There is no longer the way to "build a house from the roof" and the miracle at the U23 Asian Cup, the achievements at the Asiad and the AFF Cup 2018 championship are the sweet fruits after a long time when Vietnamese football focused on youth training.

It can be seen as the result of an experiment that we can do if we really invest seriously and strategically. No fire burns forever, if we want football to flourish, we need fuel. Like the lesson of Myanmar, they also created a generation of quality players who made it to the U20 World Cup finals like Vietnam but could not maintain and did nothing.

When Anh Duc, Van Quyet and Trong Hoang will have to step back and give the stage to their juniors, we need a new generation of players. At the 2018 AFC U19 Championship, coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team failed and after Quang Hai's generation, how many new players are expected from the new recruits that coach Park has called to the national team this time? The HAGL JMG Academy has only produced one generation of outstanding players like Cong Phuong and Van Thanh and this is not a new problem. Vietnamese football talents are still hidden somewhere, in remote rural areas.

“A good harvest of rice, a bad harvest of areca”. There will be stars whose performance has declined, there will be players who are too old and the SEA Games will need new elements. Everything depends on the training centers and the National Championship. The grass fields in V.League are still shabby, traditional teams like SLNA, Nam Dinh, Dong Thap... are still struggling to find a way to survive. A national team, a football industry with many shortcomings cannot rely on the dedication of the bosses forever.

The generation of Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Xuan Truong... is the best generation of players that HAGL JMG has produced. Photo: ST

Now or when?

Recently, Coach Park confidently stated that he and Vietnamese football set the goal of winning the Asian Championship. On what basis does the Korean strategist dream of that? The Vietnamese team has climbed into the Top 100 on the FIFA rankings, but it seems that we have not yet surpassed Thailand. And if we have surpassed Thailand, the upcoming Asian Cup 2019, the team's achievements will be the clearest proof.

However, at the 2019 Asian Cup, Coach Park no longer has Anh Duc, Van Quyet, or even Trong Hoang. The Vietnam national team has added new players such as Minh Vuong, Tan Tai, Van Dai, Thanh Binh... It seems that Coach Park is thinking about rejuvenating the squad, heading to the SEA Games in 2019, and on the other hand, aiming to get through the group stage of the continental tournament.

Up to this point, Coach Park's future is still a question mark. If Coach Park's contract is extended, he will still lead Vietnam at the SEA Games. Otherwise, the 2019 Asian Cup will be an all-in gamble for this strategist regardless of his future and his relationship with Vietnamese football.

Swimming out into the ocean and reaching the continental level is not an easy task. Top national teams like Korea, Japan, Iran… have a level and a big gap compared to their youth teams. And after the 2019 Asian Cup, Vietnamese football needs to be renewed based on existing successes.

For the first time, we set a goal of reaching the continental level and people are the decisive factor. That is why when Hanoi was preparing to participate in the AFC Champions League, VPF immediately increased the number of foreign players registered in V.League to 3 foreign players + 1 naturalized player. Hanoi FC is a model, superior to the rest of V.League and is the hope of Vietnamese football. Hanoi FC's achievements are also part of the answer to our ambition of reaching the continental level.

Defender Doan Van Hau - a rare player of the Vietnamese team who is over 1m85 tall. Photo: Trung Kien

To reach the continental and world level, Vietnamese players still need to improve and enhance their physique and physical strength. In other words, improve their race. Vietnamese people in particular, and Southeast Asians in general, are at a disadvantage in terms of physique and physical strength compared to players from Europe, America, Africa, and even compared to China, Japan, Korea and West Asian countries. That is also part of the reason for the failure of Thai football, although Thai players have good skills, tactics, and good fighting spirit, they are still at a disadvantage when it comes to competing for strength or speed. Even Korea and Japan are still at a disadvantage compared to European players in pressing, and Vietnam and other teams in Asia are still worlds apart.

The second problem is the economic resources to invest in football. The recent success of the national team has not stopped Nam Dinh fans from worrying about their home province's football. FLC Thanh Hoa has also just witnessed a transition without much expectation. SLNA - the team that contributed 3 players Trong Hoang, Ngoc Hai, Van Duc is anxiously waiting for a new sponsor. 2018 witnessed a successful year for Vietnamese football and the role of VFF cannot be denied. However, if looking at the general face of the clubs in V.League, the gap is still too large.

For football to develop, there must be funding for youth football, and for funding, there must be achievements. If one of the above steps is broken, the process must be repeated. The team that owns many achievements in the continent and region is an opportunity for V.League 2019 to have a new breath of life. And the above problems pose specific tasks for VFF - the brain of Vietnamese football, including the task of leading members to look in the same direction./.

Prime Minister and National Assembly Chairman came down to the field to congratulate coach Park Hang-seo and his team.

(Baonghean.vn) - After the AFF Cup 2018 championship officially belonged to Vietnamese football, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan quickly went down to the field to congratulate coach Park Hang-seo and the players.