Vietnam team has a headache with the problem of preventing throw-ins against Thailand

Vietnam's weaknesses, Thailand's strengths

The Vietnamese team was successful in defending against throw-ins against Indonesia in the group stage. At that time, we were fully aware of the team possessing the player with the strongest and most dangerous throw-ins in Southeast Asia: Pratama Arhan. Also, the Vietnamese team had goalkeeper Nguyen Filip, who had a significant advantage in terms of stature (1.92 m tall) and was very good at playing aerial balls.

However, against Singapore, Coach Kim Sang-sik's team nearly conceded a goal from throw-ins like this in both legs of the semi-final. In fact, the Vietnamese team conceded a goal from a Singapore throw-in in the second leg of the semi-final (10th minute) at Viet Tri Stadium. In this throw-in, Singapore attempted three consecutive headers: from a header pass by center-back Baharudin, to headers from Shawal Anuar and Faris Ramli. The Vietnamese center-backs were repeatedly beaten by their opponents in all three of these headers.

Thailand is very strong in aerial play.

Fortunately for the Vietnamese team, Singapore's goal was disallowed because Faris Ramli was offside. However, this is a situation the Vietnamese team must be wary of, and luck cannot always be on the side of Coach Kim Sang-sik's players if they continue to lose to their opponents in contested throw-in situations.

On the Thai team's side, they don't frequently use throw-ins like Indonesia and Singapore did against Vietnam. Firstly, Thailand has many attacking options; their playing style is diverse. They don't necessarily have to repeatedly use a single attacking tactic, such as a powerful throw-in into the opponent's penalty area.

Secondly, in the semi-final matches against the Philippines, Thailand did not use that kind of attacking style, because the Philippines possessed a tall defense (each of the Philippines' defenders was around 1.85m tall) and were good at heading.

The Thai national team has an ideal height.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

The Vietnamese national team is preparing strategies to face Thailand.

However, if Thailand has discovered that the Vietnamese team is weak in defending against aerial balls and throw-ins, they are likely to use this playing style when facing us in the final.

Coach Kim Sang-sik has prepared a plan.

In theory, the Thai team possesses ideal individuals for attacking from throw-ins. Thailand has two physically strong full-backs, Nicholas Mickelson and Suphanan Bureerat, who possess powerful throws. They also have center-backs Pansa Hemviboon (1.90 m) and Jonathan Khemdee (1.90 m), along with striker Patrik Gustavsson (1.84 m) who have a significant advantage in aerial duels. Therefore, if Thailand uses the same method that Singapore used to trouble Vietnam in throw-ins, they could be even more dangerous than Singapore.

The Vietnamese team therefore needs to anticipate defensive strategies for such situations. Former Vietnam U23 coach Hoang Anh Tuan suggested: "To counter throw-ins directly into the penalty area, I used to position the goalkeepers higher up, proactively jumping to contest aerial challenges like this. Even the tallest and strongest opposing attackers couldn't gain an advantage over the goalkeepers' hands."

Xuan Son is expected to shine in the final match.

Furthermore, the main problem for defensive teams in throw-in situations is psychological. Even the most powerful throw-ins can never be as dangerous as crosses from the same position. Moreover, throw-ins can't send the ball across the 5.5-meter box, so the defending team can almost pinpoint the ball's intended destination to control it.

In the second leg of the semi-final against Singapore on December 29th, coach Kim Sang-sik considered bringing on center-back Viet Anh several times, hoping to utilize his physical advantage (1.85 m) in dealing with aerial balls. This might also have been a way for Coach Kim to prepare his squad for the final against Thailand. Unfortunately, consecutive injuries to the three full-backs Van Thanh, Xuan Manh, and Tan Tai thwarted Coach Kim Sang-sik's plan to field Viet Anh.

In any case, that detail reflects the South Korean coach's high regard for Thailand's aerial attacking ability. Coach Kim will look for ways to neutralize this strength of his opponent.

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Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-viet-nam-dau-dau-voi-bai-toan-chong-nem-bien-truoc-thai-lan-185250101141216014.htm