Before competing in the 2021 Futsal World Cup finals, the Vietnam futsal team set a goal of winning a ticket to the round of 16. This is an achievement that we achieved 5 years ago.
However, with the World Cup in Lithuania, the challenge for the Vietnam futsal team is greater when we have to face tough opponents like Brazil and the Czech Republic with superior strength.
After a 1-9 loss to Brazil in the opening match, the spirit of the Vietnamese team was somewhat weakened. However, we overcame the difficulties and had a 3-2 victory over Panama in the next match. This has added a lot of confidence and at the same time lit up the hope of winning a ticket to the next round for the Vietnam futsal team.
The final challenge for the Vietnam futsal team is the Czech Republic. This is an opponent with the same 3 points as us but ranked above thanks to the secondary index. If the Vietnam futsal team wins, we will continue as the second-placed team. The draw will also be a big advantage to be able to win a ticket to the next round.
But if they lose, the Vietnam futsal team will have to depend on the results of the match between Panama and the competing teams in other groups to determine 4/6 third-placed teams with good results to qualify for the knockout round.
Therefore, to get a guaranteed ticket to the round of 16, coach Pham Minh Giang and his team need to win the right to decide for themselves with at least a draw. But this will not be an easy task.
On the FIFA rankings, the Czech Republic futsal team is currently ranked 16th, while Vietnam is ranked 44th. In the first two matches, the Czech Republic easily won Panama 5-1 and only lost 0-4 to Brazil. These are statistics showing that the Vietnam futsal team will have to face a very strong opponent.
In this match, captain Van Vu will be absent due to a penalty card. Coach Pham Minh Giang must adjust personnel for the teams. Most likely, Duc Hoa will be chosen to replace Van Vu.
Through the analysis of the coaching staff of the Vietnam futsal team, it can be seen that our opponents have very ideal physical strength, physique and play very well defensively. In addition, the pivot (forwards) of the Czech Republic have very quick turns and dangerous shots. Coach Pham Minh Giang asked the defense to play very focused to neutralize the opponent's pivot.
In the past two matches, the Vietnam futsal team has scored 3 goals from free kicks from set pieces. This is considered the most harmful weapon of the Vietnam futsal team when facing the Czech Republic. Therefore, during the training sessions, coach Pham Minh Giang practiced very carefully with set pieces.
Head of the delegation Tran Anh Tu: "In the remaining 5 groups, there is 1 team that is very weak compared to the other 3 teams, so that weak team has accidentally become a point bank, where the strong teams take full advantage of the opportunity to both win and score many goals, thereby creating an advantage for the race to become the 4 teams with the best results to win tickets to continue".
