Vietnam team wins AFF Cup: A stain on the throne, a launching pad for the future

For the first time in history, the Vietnamese team won two consecutive matches against Thailand. In addition, coach Kim Sang Sik's team is also the team that won the AFF Cup with the most wins.

Obviously, the AFF Cup throne is a compensation for the long-standing anxiety of Vietnamese fans. In the past 6 years (since the championship in 2018), Vietnamese fans have witnessed many ups and downs, including the team falling to the bottom of the crisis under coach Troussier.

The Vietnamese team still has many scars after winning the AFF Cup 2024 (Photo: Huong Duong)

However, we cannot be “overconfident” after winning the Southeast Asian championship. Because the Vietnamese team is still not a complete team. The statistics clearly reflect this.

The biggest problem of the Vietnamese team is the ability to coordinate. That is shown by the fact that the "Golden Dragons" only have a 79% accurate pass rate, ranking 5th in the tournament after Thailand (85%), Philippines (82%), Indonesia (81%) and Malaysia (80%).

This number comes from the fact that the Vietnamese team often ignores building a game from the back, instead using long balls (which have a lower accuracy rate). This style of play is not very effective when facing a well-organized defense. The appearance of Xuan Son, with his ability to operate independently and cooperate well, has helped the Vietnamese team cover up the weakness.

Another detail also reflects the playing style of the Vietnamese team. That is, we only have an average of 310.5 passes per match, lower than Thailand (421.6 passes/match), the Philippines (368.3) and Malaysia (311.2). Compared to Thailand, it is clear that coach Kim Sang Sik's team lacks short, multi-layered coordination.

Since the semi-finals, the Vietnamese team has had less ball possession than Singapore and Thailand in all four matches. In no match did the “Golden Dragons” hold the ball for more than 40%. On average, the “Golden Dragons” only controlled 52% of the time, ranking 5th in the tournament.

The Vietnamese team's playing style relies heavily on Xuan Son (Photo: Thanh Dong).

This leads to the fact that the Vietnamese team receives an average of 9.4 shots per match. Even when facing weaker opponents like Laos or Myanmar, the team receives at least 6 shots. That is a dangerous number. Because, if we meet teams of higher level, we can be completely punished.

Fortunately, coach Kim Sang Sik has Xuan Son, whose skills are far superior to the average Southeast Asian player. In addition, he has also inspired the fierce fighting spirit of the entire team. However, in the long run, the "Golden Dragons" need to improve and make a breakthrough in their playing style, instead of relying on the brilliance of their stars.

Winning the AFF Cup is not the end

The AFF Cup championship cannot be considered the destination, but all is just the beginning. Coach Kim Sang Sik is well aware of this. He shared: “This is just the beginning. After this tournament will be the Asian Cup and SEA Games. This victory will be a springboard and motivation for Vietnamese football to be confident on the road ahead.”

The 2024 AFF Cup championship comes at a very necessary time for the Vietnamese team. When the trust is broken, the spirit of the "Golden Dragons" suddenly shines again. Whatever is said, for the Vietnamese team and other teams in Southeast Asia, the AFF Cup is always an important tournament.

Winning the AFF Cup 2024 is not the end, but a good launching pad for the Vietnamese team (Photo: Huong Duong).

Therefore, the success in the Southeast Asian tournament boosted the confidence of the players and fans after a long period of disappointment. The players were more confident in themselves, in the tactics and the ability to bring success to coach Kim Sang Sik.

If the direction is right, the Vietnamese team can go far in the future because this is just the beginning under coach Kim Sang Sik. As analyzed above, if they overcome the remaining weaknesses, the "Golden Star Warriors" can go far when they have a launching pad of confidence.

The important thing is that the team needs to keep their feet on the ground. After all, we have only defeated teams in the Southeast Asian region with low levels (Indonesia did not call up a naturalized team). The next goal the team needs to aim for is the Asian level tournament.

Coach Park Hang Seo's team once approached the top teams in the continent but was stopped after losing in the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup. After that, the team went on a downward trend with losses in the 2020 and 2022 AFF Cups.

Coach Kim Sang Sik's problem is to overcome this obstacle to be ready to aim for a further goal like the 2030 World Cup. Sharing with Dan Tri on January 7, the Korean coach also expressed his desire to bring the Vietnamese team to the World Cup.

The journey ahead is still long and full of ups and downs. It is not just about words, but also about building a suitable strategy.

Be careful with naturalizing players

Indonesia wants to shorten the path to the World Cup by using naturalized players with Dutch roots. The President of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) understands that using native Indonesian players to realize the World Cup dream is impossible. Therefore, they are willing to become a "miniature Dutch team" to find a way to the World Cup.

The Vietnamese team needs to be careful with the issue of using naturalized players, avoiding mass naturalization like Indonesia (Photo: Bola).

Even in this strategy, Coach Shin Tae Yong no longer seems to be suitable for players of Dutch origin. In addition to the language barrier, there is also a disagreement in views and football thinking. For that reason, PSSI decided to invite Dutch coach Patrick Kluivert to lead the team.

But of course, a football foundation that is not built from the ground up can collapse at any time. Indonesia's disastrous defeat at the AFF Cup 2024 when they did not use naturalized players is a clear proof of that.

It is no coincidence that strong football teams in Asia such as Japan or South Korea have taken decades to build a solid foundation. Their native players are qualified enough to go to Europe to play football, learn football thinking in the Old Continent, and then make a leap forward for the national team. Only by doing football like this can we hope to create long-term dominance.

Xuan Son’s success in the Vietnam national team reminds the country’s football people about the story of naturalized players. It is clear that Xuan Son’s appearance has helped the Vietnam national team become much stronger. But that does not mean we should indulge in massive naturalization like Indonesia.

VFF Vice President Tran Anh Tu looked straight at the problem: “The Vietnamese national team is always open to naturalized players, but the important thing is that youth training must still be put first.

Indonesia's massive naturalization has created a loophole, creating a negative effect on domestic players. There is a reason why Indonesia could not call up its previous key players in the recent AFF Cup. Looking at Indonesia, we can learn from experience, everything is at a reasonable level. The whole world focuses on youth training and Vietnamese football cannot be different."

Jason Quang Vinh Pendant could be the next naturalized player to wear the Vietnamese national team jersey.

Anyway, the issue of youth training is a very long story. That does not mean that we close the door to naturalized players. Those who are eager and truly want to contribute to the Vietnamese national team are welcome (but will be selective).

Jason Quang Vinh Pendant could be the next player to wear the Vietnamese national team jersey. This player is half Vietnamese and has long expressed his great desire to wear the jersey of his motherland. Jason Quang Vinh Pendant's case has many similarities to Van Lam or Nguyen Filip.

The role of naturalized players in the development of football cannot be denied. However, the Vietnamese team cannot chase success and lose its identity. Everything needs to be gradual, with a roadmap and towards sustainable development.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/tuyen-viet-nam-vo-dich-aff-cup-vet-gon-tren-ngai-vang-be-phong-tuong-lai-20250110223100005.htm