A draw is a success

* PRE-MATCH PREDICTIONS

The 5-1 victory over Indonesia was a strong statement of Iraq's strength in Group F of the 2nd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. Not only in terms of score, the West Asian representative outperformed their opponent in all aspects: physique, strength, speed and ability to impose the game. Iraqi players won in 1-on-1 situations, controlled the ball well and deployed a very diverse attacking style. Iraq's five goals and countless chances came from many approaches to the goal.

It could be the central attacking style like the tricky turn and finish by striker Bashar Rasan in the opening goal. Or the continuous attacks down the left flank with quality crosses that made Jordi Amat flustered and scored an own goal. The midfielders' ability to press in the midfield and shoot from distance was also impressive. The crucial goal that gave Iraq a 3-1 lead was a wonderful strike from Osama Rashid.

Vietnam team will have a difficult match against Iraq

Even though they are playing at home, perhaps every square meter of My Dinh Stadium will become cramped and difficult to face the pressure of the opponent. Coach Troussier's students must even imagine facing difficult circumstances similar to what they experienced in the friendly matches with South Korea or Uzbekistan in October. That means they will have difficulty controlling the ball in their home field under the high pressing pressure of the opponent.

In the friendly matches last month, the Vietnamese team conceded many goals from the poor passes of the players in the back line. Moreover, the formation distance and the defensive block also need to be tightened and have more coordination and closer connection. In the match against Korea, the gap between our central defenders and central midfielders was exploited to the maximum by Son Heung-min. This time, Iraq does not have world- class stars, but their attack is also diverse and strong with a squad of players who are playing impressively in Europe and the top clubs in West Asia. The important thing is that Iraq plays fast and diversely, which makes it difficult for us to predict and outline specific and clear professional measures. It all depends on the flexibility and combat ability of the players. What we are quite worried about is that Mr. Troussier's students are still on the way to perfecting their ball control style of play, and are still very weak in the transition phase and proactive defense against the opponent's pressure.

Goalkeeper Van Lam will have a hard day at work

We still have 5 more matches ahead. Including the first and second leg matches with Iraq and Indonesia. If we analyze strategically, the direct confrontation with Indonesia will be the deciding factor, but sometimes the important factor to continue is the number of points, even the goal difference in the matches with Iraq. Therefore, the confrontation with Iraq at home, although not the decisive match, is an important step on the very long road to the World Cup. To be fair, we do not have many opportunities against our opponents. In the past, we also lost 3 and drew 1. But now Vietnamese football has turned a new page with a different coach. Hopefully, those new and different things will bring about efficiency. Another interesting aspect is that the match between us and Iraq will show the gap between us and our opponents, between Vietnam and the top of Asia. To see if the World Cup dream is real or still too far away...

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