In Japan, Coach Troussier and the team from the land of the rising sun won the Asian championship in 2000, reached the round of 16 of the 2002 World Cup (the first time Japan had done this up to that time), reached the quarter-finals of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and was runner-up at the 1999 U20 World Cup.
In addition, Mr. Troussier was also honored in the "Temple of Fame" of Japanese football , a reward for his achievements with Japanese football, as well as showing that the people of the land of the rising sun respect this strategist.
Before reaching the pinnacle of glory, Coach Troussier also suffered defeat and received much criticism (Photo: VFF).
However, before reaching the pinnacle of success, Coach Troussier also experienced a failed debut period, receiving much criticism in Japan.
Mr. Troussier came to Japan in 1998, replacing coach Takeshi Okada, with the hope of helping the Japanese team transform. However, in the debut tournament Copa America in 1999, the French coach left a bitter disappointment.
This is a tournament in which Japan participates as a guest, alongside another guest, Mexico, and 10 South American teams.
Despite being in an easy group with hosts Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia, coach Philippe Troussier's Japan played very poorly, losing 2-3 to Peru, 0-4 to Paraguay, and only drawing 1-1 with Bolivia in a game of chasing the score. With only one point after 3 matches, coach Philippe Troussier's team finished bottom of the group and was eliminated.
After the tournament, the French coach was heavily criticized by the Japanese media, who even doubted whether choosing Mr. Troussier as the coach of the Japanese team at that time was correct or not?
Coach Troussier when he was in charge of the Japanese national team, the most successful period of his career (Photo: AFC).
But there was one point, despite the skepticism, the Japanese still gave Mr. Troussier another chance. Mr. Troussier led the Japanese U20 team to the 1999 U20 World Cup in Nigeria, played brilliantly, topped Group E, with the presence of England, the United States and Cameroon, then went straight to the final, only to lose to Spain with the famous Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol later.
The next part is history, coach Philippe Troussier and the Japanese team won the Asian championship in 2000, and made a splash at the 2002 World Cup at home as mentioned above.
If the Japanese had lost patience, if they had taken a warm-up tournament (Copa America 1999) too seriously, where they only attended as guests, and had fired coach Philippe Troussier after a short period of unsatisfactory start, they would have permanently lost one of the most successful coaches in Japanese football history.
On the other hand, it can also be seen that Coach Troussier does not place too much importance on the results in the warm-up tournaments. What is important to the French coach is that through those warm-up tournaments, he sees the problems for his own team, considering them just a warm-up step for more important official tournaments.
What just happened at the Doha Cup is probably the same, the peak of form and physical strength of U22 Vietnam is not in the tournament in Qatar. The Doha Cup is also not the main goal of the team under coach Troussier at this stage, so judging the French coach only based on the Doha Cup is a bit early!
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