Hanoi At 11am today, Indonesian coach Shin Tae-yong answered the media about preparations for the second leg match against Vietnam in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
* Continued update
"Tomorrow's match will be difficult, because we have to play away. But Indonesia is preparing to be able to play and try to win on Vietnam's field," the Korean coach said at a press conference at the headquarters of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), My Dinh.
Coach Shin Tae-yong said his goal is to defeat Vietnam right at My Dinh. Photo: Lam Thoa
Coach Shin once suffered a lot of bitterness with Vietnamese football when he continuously lost to teams led by Coach Park Hang-seo. But after his compatriot retired, his career seemed to take a different, brighter direction. Coach Shin is now like a hero of Indonesian football when he helped them win two consecutive victories against Vietnam, with the same score of 1-0, in the group stage of the Asian Cup in January 2024 and the first leg of the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup last week.
The two players who contributed to Indonesia's goal in the match at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on March 21 were both "domestic players". Pratama Arhan's powerful throw-in caused the Vietnamese defense to make a mistake and Egy Maulana's close-range shot scored. However, the good performance of the team from the archipelago country bore the strong mark of the naturalized players. They played calmly and confidently, helping Indonesia play steadily against Vietnam, no longer being flustered and caught up in the opponent's style of play, leading to mistakes and being punished like before.
In the rematch at My Dinh tomorrow, March 26, Indonesia will lose defender Sandy Walsh due to suspension. However, they will have two new naturalized players, Thom Haye and Ragnar Oratmagoen.
The 1-0 win at Bung Karno helped Indonesia move ahead of Vietnam in the race for a ticket to the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. They finished second in Group F with 4 points, 1 point ahead of Vietnam and 6 points behind Iraq. If they do not lose to Vietnam in the match at My Dinh, Shin Tae-yong's team will have a great chance to continue to the third qualifying round.
Lam Thoa
Source link
Comment (0)