Vietnam team's overload concerns before decisive match against Malaysia

In just over 10 days, the Vietnamese team will have an important match against Malaysia in the first leg of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers (taking place on June 10). However, at this time, the Vietnamese players are still busy with many matches at the club level, making the plan to gather the Vietnamese team difficult.

Vietnam team gathers today

Three players of the Vietnamese national team, Do Duy Manh, Nguyen Van Vi and Nguyen Hai Long, attended the friendly match against MU last night, May 28, in Malaysia without having time to practice with the ASEAN All-stars team. Because before that, on the evening of May 26, Van Vi still had to play away against SLNA with his club; while Duy Manh and Hai Long met Hanoi Police (CAHN) at Hang Day Stadium. Also due to being busy with the V-League, on the afternoon of May 27, Duy Manh, Hai Long and Van Vi were able to fly from Hanoi to Kuala Lumpur.

Previously, midfielder Nguyen Hoang Duc accompanied coach Kim Sang-sik (chosen to lead the ASEAN All-stars) and some members of the Vietnamese national team's coaching staff to Malaysia. Before going to Malaysia, Hoang Duc had a 4-day trip to England at the invitation of Man.City Club. The midfielder, born in 1998, attended the match where Man.City defeated Bournemouth 3-1 in the 37th round of the Premier League on May 21, and also witnessed the farewell ceremony of the club's legend, Kevin De Bruyne.

Duy Manh (right) worked hard before joining the national team.

PHOTO: MINH TU

It can be seen that Vietnamese players are constantly "running around" both domestically and internationally, before returning to Hanoi to join the Vietnamese team. Specifically, Vietnamese players will gather in Hanoi on May 29, having more than 10 days to prepare for the decisive match against Malaysia in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup.

Remember that the CAHN players were tired and quickly collapsed against Hanoi FC in the 24th round of the V-League on May 26, even though the opponent had only 10 players on the field in the second half (losing 0-2). The reason was that they had just played the second leg of the Southeast Asian Cup C1 final against Buriram of Thailand on May 21. In the CAHN team, there were 4 players called up to the Vietnam national team to prepare for the match against Malaysia, including Nguyen Filip, Cao Pentdant Quang Vinh, Nguyen Quang Hai and Bui Hoang Viet Anh. On May 30 and June 3, the CAHN team will have 2 more V-League make-up matches against Binh Duong and Binh Dinh clubs.

Although coach Kim Sang-sik believes that the Vietnamese team's training plan will not be affected because the players are very familiar with each other and have absorbed the playing philosophy he applies, it is clear that having to compete and travel too much before the match against Malaysia will also affect the physical strength and performance of important players. Remember, players like Hoang Duc, Quang Hai, Hai Long, Van Vi... always play an important role in Kim Sang-sik's playing scheme.

Meanwhile, according to the Malaysian press, coach Peter Cklamovski of the national team has tested and organized the first training session from May 18 to 25, and some players will continue to be tested in two friendly matches with the strong team Cape Verde on May 29 and June 3. The main members of the Malaysian team have been reduced to 31 players from the previous list of 38, with the return of key players such as Syihan Hazmi, Corbin-Ong, Matthew Davies, Shahrul Saad, Junior Eldstal, Afiq Fazail, Romel Morales and Endrick Dos Santos (a player currently playing for Ho Chi Minh City Club in the V-League) from May 25.

The Malaysian team has been well-connected in terms of playing style and building a team identity both on and off the pitch. According to coach Peter Cklamovski, improving the physical fitness of the Malaysian players is very important, but equally important is improving tactical awareness and intelligently handling the game. Coach Peter Cklamovski is confident that Malaysian fans will be proud of this team.

Obviously, the Malaysian team has prepared very carefully for the match against Vietnam and wants to defeat the team led by coach Kim Sang-sik.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/noi-lo-qua-tai-cua-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-truoc-tran-gap-malaysia-185250528194734301.htm