Can Vietnam Olympic Committee escape the 'life-threatening' situation?

The Indonesian newspaper Suara Merdeka acknowledged that the Vietnamese Olympic team is in a precarious situation in the race to qualify for the next round of the men's football tournament at the 19th Asian Games.

The match between the Vietnam Olympic team and Saudi Arabia will take place at 6:30 PM (Vietnam time) at the Linping Sport Centre in Hangzhou, China.

The Vietnamese Olympic team no longer has much hope of advancing to the next round at the 19th Asian Games. (Photo: Tuan Bao)

After a heavy 0-4 defeat against Olympic Iran, the Vietnamese Olympic team has little chance of advancing in the 19th Asian Games. We need to secure at least one point against Olympic Saudi Arabia to have any hope of competing. A defeat would almost certainly mean the Vietnamese Olympic team's elimination.

The Suara Merdeka newspaper described the situation of the Vietnamese Olympic team as follows: "Coach Hoang Anh Tuan's team is in a precarious situation in the race to qualify for the next round of the 19th Asian Games."

In the ranking of the best-performing third-placed teams, the Vietnamese Olympic team is only ahead of the Myanmar Olympic team.

However, in the final match, the "Golden Star Warriors" faced a major challenge in the form of the Saudi Arabian Olympic team. Even if they managed to draw with the stronger team, the Vietnamese Olympic team would still have to wait for the results of the remaining groups.

Meanwhile, the Myanmar Olympic team faces a much easier opponent in the form of the Indian Olympic team. The Indonesian Olympic team is in a favorable position, facing only the North Korean Olympic team. And the Thai Olympic team also faces a manageable opponent in the Kuwaiti Olympic team.

Vietnamese fans will experience a sense of anxiety watching their team play. Two of their best players, Nham Manh Dung and Phan Tuan Tai, are not guaranteed to play in the crucial match against Olympic Saudi Arabia.

The Suara Merdeka newspaper also mentioned the three times the Vietnamese Olympic team narrowly escaped defeat in the past:

The first instance was at the 1997 SEA Games. Before the final match, the Vietnamese team no longer had control over their own destiny. If Malaysia beat Laos, Colin Murphy's team would be eliminated even if they beat the Philippines. However, in the end, thanks to Laos's victory over Malaysia (1-0), the Vietnamese team narrowly escaped elimination.

Secondly , there was the 2019 Asian Cup. Vietnamese fans anxiously awaited their team's qualification. After the group stage, Coach Park Hang Seo's team had 3 points and a goal difference of -1. Fortunately, we finished in 4th place among the best-performing third-placed teams. At that time, the "Golden Dragons" had the same points and goal difference as Lebanon, and only surpassed their opponent in fair-play coefficient.

The third instance was in the group stage of the 2019 SEA Games. The Vietnam U23 team faced Thailand U23 in a crucial final match. We were trailing 2-0 after just 10 minutes. If the score remained unchanged, Vietnam U23 would have been eliminated. But then, Tien Linh scored a brace to equalize the score at 2-2. After narrowly making it through in the group stage, Coach Park Hang Seo's team went on to win the championship.

Meanwhile, the newspaper Bola also published an article assessing the chances of the four Southeast Asian teams advancing at the 19th Asian Games. They concluded that the Vietnamese Olympic team had the lowest chance among the representatives in the region.

The newspaper commented: "The Vietnamese Olympic team needs to perform to the best of their ability and spring a surprise against the Saudi Arabian Olympic team if they have any hope of advancing."

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/olympic-viet-nam-co-thoat-tinh-the-ngan-can-treo-soi-toc-243469.html