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"After two losses, the Vietnamese team no longer has a chance to continue at the 2023 Asian Cup, but the whole team will maintain their motivation," coach Troussier opened the press conference. "Tomorrow's match is first to defend the honor and colors of Vietnam."
"I believe that in the last two matches, despite losing to Japan and Indonesia, the whole team showed the spirit of daring to play football, and especially in the second half of the match against Indonesia, the whole team clearly showed a spirit and will to not give up until the last minute. Second, I believe that the players need to keep their spirits up for tomorrow's match against Iraq as well as the two matches in March against Indonesia."
Coach Troussier attended a press conference before the match against Iraq (Photo: AFC).
The Iraqi team will play the Vietnamese team at 6:30 pm tomorrow (January 24). This is considered a formality match for both teams as Iraq is certain to top Group D with 6 points after 2 matches, while Vietnam is certain to be eliminated after 2 losses. Coach Troussier takes responsibility for the early elimination of the Vietnamese team.
He said: "I take full responsibility for the results of the tournament. I fully understand the feelings of the media and fans in Vietnam after the last two matches. When I started working for the Vietnam national team nearly a year ago, the VFF leaders discussed with me how we could have better results in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against the top teams in the continent. In the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, we won one match, drew one match and lost eight matches."
"Of course, to close the gap with the top teams in the continent, we need to change our approach to play and this change is not easy, because we need to ask a lot from the players, from spirit to initiative as well as the approach to the match."
Iraq will not have its number one striker in the match against the Vietnamese team.
Iraq has secured a place in the round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup. The West Asian team is currently leading Group D with 2 wins (they beat Indonesia 3-1 and beat Japan 2-1). However, Iraq still wants to defeat the Vietnamese team to create momentum before the knockout stage.
Iraq's AawSat channel said: "Iraq will play against the Vietnamese team on Wednesday evening (January 24). Iraq is aiming to win this match to secure the top spot in the group with full points."
Striker Aymen Hussein will be absent from the match against the Vietnamese team (Photo: AP).
"The day the Vietnamese team loses its number one position in Southeast Asia is coming"
Faced with this situation, the Thai press believes that the home team will soon surpass the Vietnamese team to rise to the number one position in Southeast Asia. The Thai newspaper commented: "The Thai team is about to enter the world's top 100 for the first time in 19 years.
The "War Elephants" have risen 11 places, from 113th to 102nd in the world. If coach Masatada Ishii's team defeats Saudi Arabia, they will top Group F. Not only that, then the Golden Temple team can surpass the Vietnamese team to become number one in Southeast Asia.
Thai newspapers believe that their team can dethrone the number one position in Southeast Asia from the Vietnamese team (Photo: Getty).
Korean newspaper speaks out about sad things about the Vietnamese team
A Korean newspaper wrote: "The Vietnamese team has become a weak team without coach Park Hang Seo." The newspaper commented: "The Vietnamese team was powerless against Indonesia. They showed a completely different appearance compared to the time of coach Park Hang Seo.
At the 2019 Asian Cup, Coach Park Hang Seo's Vietnam team reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup. Under the Korean coach, the "Golden Star Warriors" showed stability and played solidly. They emerged as a dark horse in Asia.
In 2020, the Vietnamese team made history by entering the third qualifying round of the World Cup for the first time. Coach Park Hang Seo transformed the Vietnamese team from an average team to an Asian dark horse.
Coach Park Hang Seo’s successor, Coach Troussier, brought high expectations to Vietnamese football after experiencing a very successful period with the Japanese team. However, he could not help the Vietnamese team achieve success.
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