Men's football off to a strong start

In the opening match of Group B of the 19th ASIAD men's football, against an opponent considered weaker, the Vietnamese Olympic team with young players played with determination, threw themselves into implementing the ball control strategy quite well according to the plan that the coaching staff had built.

With an early opening goal in the 3rd minute by Nguyen Quoc Viet, the young Vietnamese players were able to relieve psychological pressure and take control of the game. The diverse attacks on both wings with the mobility of technical and powerful midfielders such as Duc Phu, Khuat Van Khang, Thanh Nhan and Minh Trong... helped the Vietnamese Olympic team tear apart the multi-layered defense of Mongolia.

Vietnam Olympic team had a smooth start at ASIAD 19. (Photo: THAO HOANG)

Passing quickly and small in the middle of the field, launching attacks from the home field and then sending passes through the opponent's defense, helping teammates escape and shoot in favorable positions. This is a new feature in the attacking style of the young players led by coach Hoang Anh Tuan. Up to 3 out of 4 goals against Mongolia were scored by Mr. Tuan's students using this attacking style.

Despite the advantages, there are still many shortcomings in the playing style of coach Hoang Anh Tuan's team. First, the finishing efficiency is not high, still missing many "delicious" opportunities; second, the tightness of the defense is still low, the error rate is still high. Match statistics show that Olympic Vietnam had no less than 8 favorable finishing opportunities but only scored 4 goals. In addition, the mistakes of midfielder Thai Son and goalkeeper Van Chuan caused the "golden dragon warriors" to have to pick the ball out of the net twice.

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan always reminds his players to focus at the beginning and end of the match, minimizing personal mistakes. However, lack of experience and weak willpower make young Vietnamese players unable to be confident when entering the big arena. Football expert Doan Minh Xuong commented: "This playground is very meaningful for young players, helping them have more opportunities to compete and improve their skills before entering the high-level competition environment in the future."

Nguyen Quoc Viet's double, along with Khuat Van Khang and Vo Nguyen Hoang's goals, demonstrated the progress in the ball control and proactive attacking style that Vietnamese football is applying. Watching the performance of Olympic Vietnam, coach Nguyen Tuan Phong highly appreciated the midfield, especially the pressing ability of players Duc Viet, Dinh Bac and Nam Hai.

Sharing the same opinion, Coach Pham Minh Duc also gave high marks to the midfield: "The midfield of the Vietnam Olympic team showed efficiency when knowing how to "deal cards", control the rhythm or recover the ball systematically".

Experts say that the victory over Mongolia is not a surprising result for the Vietnamese Olympic team. The opportunity for coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team to enter the round of 16 is very high, but the competition with two formidable opponents, Iran and the defending champion Saudi Arabia, in the next two rounds will truly assess the strength and professional level of the young Vietnamese players.