Which direction will the Vietnam team go after the heavy loss to Malaysia?

Commentator Quang Huy expressed concern for the Vietnamese team in the context of regional countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia becoming very strong thanks to naturalization policies.

Malaysian naturalized player has outstanding class

"Before the match, I predicted that a draw would be good for the Vietnamese team , or even a close loss would be fine. I imagined that Malaysia's squad was too strong. They were naturalized quickly, with quality players from Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Europe... In general, these players all have experience in top teams, not foreign players coming to Vietnam to play," commented commentator Quang Huy .

He added : "Before coming to Vietnam, only a handful of V-League foreign players were able to play for strong teams in their own country, the rest were mainly in lower leagues, not playing in professional leagues in their own country.

Malaysia used 9 naturalized players in the starting lineup. Photo: Ho Hai Hoang

Malaysia has all the real professional players, not to mention the head coach is also very good. Coach Peter Cklamovski is the one who builds the style of playing directly, forward with enthusiasm. The Australian coach knows the individual level of the players is outstanding, not only the 11 players on the field, but also the reserve players are very good quality."

Coach Kim Sang Sik arranged a dense defense, not even using a proper striker. According to commentator Quang Huy, if the Vietnamese team did not play like that, they would have "broken" in the first half.

"Malaysia's strength is terrible. Unfortunately, when Vietnam's key central defenders got injured, we didn't have good people to replace them. Thanh Binh and Viet Anh were both at home. The new players were 'stuck'.

In the second half, we waited for a scenario that could create a surprise, but the defense continued to lose players, while Malaysia played better and better," said commentator Quang Huy.

The Vietnamese team was completely helpless. Photo: Ho Hai Hoang

Losing 0-4 in the first leg, coach Kim Sang Sik confidently said that the Vietnamese team still has a chance to turn the tables in the second leg, but commentator Quang Huy has a different opinion.

“We have been in this situation with Indonesia before. We lost the first leg slightly, thinking that we could win at home, but they added new naturalized players. As for Malaysia, if they played like this in the first match, they will definitely be much stronger, when they have had experience with each other, and have a high-class coach. He knows how to help this group of naturalized players play smoothly and improve.

Saying that the door to the 2027 Asian Cup finals has closed for the Vietnamese team is a bit negative, but any door to continue for coach Kim Sang Sik and his team is very difficult," commentator Quang Huy frankly said.

What is the way for Vietnam team?

"This is not only a failure for the Vietnamese team, but now we have to think about which path to take to catch up with Malaysia.

In the past, coach Calisto invited some naturalized players to join the national team, but it was only later that we opened the door for Xuan Son or naturalized overseas Vietnamese players like Quang Vinh, Nguyen Filip...

Vietnam lost to Indonesia, now Malaysia is also ahead. I feel like Malaysia is even better than Indonesia. Malaysia has high-class players, playing direct football in the European style," commentator Quang Huy worried.

Vietnam team is being surpassed by Indonesia and Malaysia. Photo: Ho Hai Hoang

"After the loss to Malaysia, I have not yet imagined which direction the Vietnamese team will go. Malaysia is naturalizing players en masse, even some of them have unclear origins. I think this situation is very worrying for the Vietnamese team. Southeast Asian football is making changes. We have gone a short distance, while Indonesia and Malaysia have gone a long way.

"Right or wrong, each country has its own point of view, but right now it is very difficult for us to catch up with Indonesia or Malaysia. Everything is becoming unclear," emphasized commentator Quang Huy.

"I think FIFA and AFC should review the issue of naturalization, there must be some standards. Perhaps FIFA could not have expected that teams like Malaysia would have naturalized nearly 20 players in such a short time. FIFA needs to recalculate, otherwise the boundaries of football, training and development will be blurred," commentator Quang Huy concluded.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/ket-qua-malaysia-0-4-viet-nam-huong-di-nao-cho-tuyen-viet-nam-2410208.html