Nepal team has no money to buy ice for cooling, nothing: Only when coming to Vietnam can they enjoy this…

The Australian strategist shares about his coaching philosophy, his arduous journey with the Nepal team and his belief in even the smallest progress, after the match against Vietnam.

'Nepal team's chance of winning against Vietnam is only 1/20'

Matt Ross, who is in charge of the Nepal national team, said he is not chasing far-fetched goals. For him, the most important thing is the love for coaching and the desire to have a positive impact on the players.

"I just know that I love coaching, love working with the team. I want to leave the team better than when I arrived. Nepal lost more than they won, but I believe they have improved in the way they play, in their principles," he shared.

The 47-year-old believes Nepal is on the right track after encouraging results against Singapore (win) and Hong Kong (draw). "The odds of winning against Vietnam may be only 1/20, but I am still working every day to close that gap," he said.

Coach Matt Ross spent many years working in Germany before leading the Nepal team.

PHOTO: KHA HOA

"Players only improve when they are allowed to make mistakes"

Before becoming a professional football player, Matt Ross was a referee and then a physical education teacher. He believes that his teaching experience has made him a better coach:

"Learners only progress when they feel safe, encouraged and allowed to make mistakes. I try to create that environment for players, using humor to make them open up, dare to ask, dare to share," he said.

He recounted a situation in the match against Vietnam when a Nepalese midfielder made a mistake: "I didn't blame them too much. I just said: 'Your idea is right - you want to escape the pressure by dribbling - but the timing and execution are wrong'. I want them to understand that mistakes are part of learning."

Coach Matt Ross shares very sincerely about his journey with a difficult football environment like Nepal.

PHOTO: INDEPENDENCE

According to coach Matt Ross, the best players are those who are free to create within a framework. "I don't want them to be afraid of me. Fear only makes them shrink. Football should be about freedom with limits - like the Brazilians, they play by instinct but still are a strong team," he explained.

"In Kathmandu, players have to practice on a field as hard as concrete"

After losing 1-3 to Vietnam, coach Matt Ross still found many things to be happy about.

"We scored against Vietnam – something that we probably never did before. It was Sanish Shrestha's first goal for the team, a special day for him. Another young player also made his debut for the team, his whole village turned on the TV to celebrate. Moments like that are very special," he said emotionally.

However, he also regretted that the Nepalese press and some opinions from Vietnam had a negative view: "When I talked to the person in charge of the media, I learned that the Nepalese press was negative towards us. In addition, I also saw that some opinions from Vietnamese people were also very negative towards your team. On social networks, it is probably easier to get more likes when being negative, instead of praising the opponent for playing well and winning," he said.

Nepal national team coach regrets red card, more determined in second leg against Vietnam

Coach Ross also shared about the little-known difficulties in the process of training the Nepal team.

"We live and train at an altitude of 1,400m in Kathmandu, with temperatures sometimes dropping to zero degrees. The travel was extremely difficult - 10 players flew from Bangladesh and it took 40 hours to arrive because they were split into multiple flights. Two players suffered blood clots in their legs and could not play," he said.

His team had no masseurs, no protein bars, not even ice. “In Kathmandu we didn’t even have money to buy ice. People didn’t know we had nothing,” he said.

Nepal players had a brave match against the much higher rated team Vietnam.

PHOTO: INDEPENDENCE

However, he still considered the 1-3 loss to Vietnam a good result in that context: "The two training sessions in Vietnam were the first time we had practiced on natural grass. Back home, they only practiced on a 20-year-old artificial field, as hard as concrete. After each training session, everyone had back pain and muscle fatigue. I couldn't train harder because they needed to recover. I believe in this journey, even if someone doesn't see it."

For coach Matt Ross, leading Nepal is not just a job but a journey of sowing faith: "No one knows everything we have to go through. But I believe that every day of effort, every player's progress, we have won."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-nepal-khong-co-tien-mua-da-lam-mat-khong-co-gi-ca-den-viet-nam-moi-duoc-huong-dieu-nay-185251011181012141.htm