Vietnamese media praised the performance of their national soccer team, which performed well against Asia’s strongest team, Japan.
Even though the ‘Giant Killing’ was not achieved, there was an outpouring of encouragement saying, ‘You lost but you fought well.’
The Vietnam national football team, led by coach Philippe Trussier,
lost 2-4 in the first leg of Group D of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup held at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar on the 14th (Korean time). 토토사이트
Even after giving up the first goal, they showed their potential to turn the game around 2-1,
but fell to their knees after conceding 3 more goals due to Japan’s wave of attacks.
However, Vietnamese media praised the national soccer team’s performance.
Vietnam’s representative daily newspaper ‘nhandan’ commented, “Despite great efforts, Vietnam lost 2-4 to Japan,” and added, “
They were a surprise against Japan, who were considered favorites to win this tournament.”
Japan is ranked 17th in the FIFA rankings and is considered one of the strongest teams in Asia along with Korea, Iran, and Australia.
Their momentum was skyrocketing, as they won all 10 recent international matches (including the unofficial match against Jordan) and showed a near-perfect performance, scoring 45 points and conceding 6 goals.
On the other hand, Vietnam ranked 94th in the FIFA rankings, and there was a clear downward trend recently under French coach Philippe Trussier,
who succeeded coach Park Hang-seo. Not only did they suffer a crushing 0-6 loss to coach Jürgen Klinsmann’s Korean national team in October last year,
but they also faltered with 5 losses in 6 games just before the Asian Cup.
Because of this, coach Trussier was constantly compared to coach Park Hang-seo,
the former head coach of the Vietnam national soccer team.
Coach Park Hang-seo led Vietnam to second place in the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 (Under 23) Championship,
semifinals of the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Asian Games, winner of the 2018 Southeast Asian Football Championship,
winner of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, and finalist of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
After rewriting the history of Vietnamese soccer by advancing to the preliminaries, he handed down the baton last year.
Vietnam started the Asian Cup with concerns, but it chilled Japan from the first game. In the 11th minute of the first half,
they allowed the first goal to Takumi Minamino, who plays for AS Monaco in the French Ligue 1, but quickly succeeded in counterattacking.
Vietnam hit Japan’s net with striker Nguyen Dinh Park’s backheader from a corner kick in the 15th minute of the first half.
The ball flew toward the top of the right goal post with a trajectory and curve that Japanese goalkeeper Suzuki could not control, and ended up scoring a goal.
Vietnam once again broke down Japan’s defense in the 32nd minute of the first half.
Tuan Hai scored a comeback goal with a calm finish in a mixed situation in the box, making the score 2-1.
Expectations for a cataclysmic event that will go down in the history of the Asian Cup are increasing.
But Japan was Japan. Minamino’s equalizer just before the end of the first half brought the game back to level one, and then regained the lead with a goal by Keito Nakamura,
who plays for Reims, France, in extra time of the first half.
Afterwards, Vietnam chose to maintain a stable game rather than pull up the line and go on an active offensive.
In order to accumulate points in games against Iraq and Indonesia and advance to the 16th point,
they came up with a strategy to avoid loss in goal difference.
Vietnam gave up one more goal to Ueda in the 40th minute of the second half, ending the game 2-4.
Although it was a two-goal loss, Vietnam’s performance was certainly impressive.
Following their advancement to the quarterfinals of the 2019 United Arab Emirates (UAE) tournament under coach Park Hang-seo,
we can expect good performance in this Qatar tournament as well.
Coach Trussier, the successor to coach Park Hang-seo, the father of Vietnamese soccer,
was also able to calm the critical public opinion towards him to some extent with his performance against Japan.
Coach Trussier served as coach of the Japan national soccer team from 1999 to 2002.
Coach Trussier took charge of the Japanese national team and achieved achievements such as the quarterfinals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics,
the 2000 Asian Cup in Lebanon, the runners-up at the 2001 Confederations Cup, and the round of 16 at the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup,
but his career as a coach was on the decline thereafter.
Vietnamese media outlet ‘laodong’ commented, “Vietnam lost 2-4 to Japan in the opening game of the Asian Cup,
but it was still a good match for Coach Trussier.” He added, “Vietnam will play Indonesia in the second round of the group stage on January 19.”
Another Vietnamese media outlet ‘vnexpress’ also said, “Vietnam scored two goals against Japan in the Asian Cup,” and added, “
Vietnam has lost five of its last six games and has had key players absent due to injuries, raising a lot of skepticism from fans. “
Doubts about Coach Trussier and the team’s abilities may disappear after the opening game against Japan,” he said.