From the generational transition
The Vietnam futsal team comes to the 2026 Asian Futsal Championship with a squad with many young faces. Names such as goalkeepers Tran Van Phuong (23 years old), Tran Quang Nguyen (20 years old), Trinh Cong Dai (21 years old), Vu Ngoc Anh (22 years old) and Nguyen Da Hai (21 years old) can be mentioned. Not to mention two other players who have just turned 23, including Nhan Gia Hung and Dinh Cong Vien (both 24 years old).
This shows that the Vietnamese futsal team brings to the tournament a young, combative squad. This is also the intention, the strategy of coach Diego Giustozzi when wanting to carry out a "rejuvenation" with the Vietnamese futsal team by building a successor generation of players for Pham Duc Hoa, Nguyen Minh Tri, Ho Van Y...
The enthusiasm and desire to contribute are what our players have in abundance. But, what is lacking here is bravery and psychological stability in important matches. The recent clash with host Indonesia in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Asian Championship is the clearest proof.
The opponent is not too superior, but they have an advantage in spirit, with thousands of fans supporting them in the stands. Coach Diego Giustozzi himself also expressed concern about these things when asked about the Indonesian opponent before the match.
The Vietnamese futsal team made mistakes and then paid too high a price against the Indonesian futsal team. It's not that we didn't have a chance, but wasting opportunities is also one of the reasons for this defeat.
The 2026 Asian Futsal Championship is not yet a qualifying tournament for the 2028 Futsal World Cup. Therefore, the defeat of the Vietnamese futsal team against Indonesia in the quarter-finals of the tournament is not necessarily a disaster, but it will be a lesson for us to re-examine the issue to aim for the World Cup goal in the next 2 years.
Issues to improve
As mentioned above, missing many opportunities is also one of the reasons why the Vietnamese futsal line was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Asian Championship. In addition, mistakes in defense are also issues that the Vietnamese futsal team needs to improve.
The Vietnamese futsal team has a diverse attacking style, creating many opportunities at the 2026 Asian Futsal Championship, but the effectiveness is very low, not as expected.
In addition, we also made many mistakes in defense, as shown in the matches against Thailand and Indonesia, leading to defeats in this tournament," Mr. Tran Anh Tu - Vice President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) shared with the media.
Another issue raised by Mr. Tu is that the Vietnamese futsal team has little international competition experience, has not fought with many strong opponents with high levels to hone their bravery.
It is likely that there will be training trips to countries with developed futsal backgrounds for coach Diego Giustozzi and his team to accumulate more international competition experience with strong opponents.
There are still 2 years until the 2028 Futsal World Cup, but right now, after the recent failures, Vietnamese futsal may also have to start working to improve internal problems.
We can temporarily accept it because the achievements are not as expected because the force transfer at this time is necessary. But how to make that team rejuvenation strategy bring success to Vietnamese futsal, towards the goal of participating in the World Cup arena for the 3rd time.
