Waste opportunities
The Vietnamese team played well but did not leave any significant impression in the second leg of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers against the Ne team. The only goal came very early when Suman was confused to play an own goal.
In fact, the scenario of the first leg was repeated, but there were some slight differences. To be fair, the Vietnamese team overcame their opponents more easily, creating more opportunities.
Thanh Nhan sent the ball to the post, Van Vi shot at the opponent from close range, Tien Linh shot the ball into the crossbar. If he is lucky, scoring at least 2 more goals is not a problem.
After the match, striker Nguyen Tien Linh expressed: "Heavy rain affected the pitch and playing style of the Vietnam team, the mud on the pitch slowed down the ball.
Vietnam's goal is to score many goals, but the pitch is not good to make the attack plays more smoothly. After this match, on the occasion of FIFA Days in November, the Vietnam team will meet Laos, we need to try harder to get good results".
Tien Linh's statement is not just an excuse. The star born in 1997 understands that the Vietnamese team almost has to pay a heavy price. In the second half of the second half, the Nepal team had at least 2 chances to equalize 1-1. If their strikers are more meticulous, the hope of winning a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup will be considered closed for the Vietnamese team.
Disappointing half-time
Right on TV, expert Phan Anh Tu frankly said: "In the second half, the opponent completely dominated the game, deploying the ball quite well even though their players' quality was not as good as theirs. Instead of regulating the match better, the Vietnamese team chose to defend. After that, the team switched to counter-attacking but were ineffective.
I think the substitution in the second half was not good, the attackers were very cumbersome because the striker pairs were not in harmony, almost never playing together. When playing in pairs up front, the players need to understand each other and create harmony. The first half was well controlled, but the second half was underwhelming."
Mr. Phan Anh Tu's comments are not serious. In fact, a decision by coach Kim Sang-sik almost cost him a lot, even costing him a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup.
Right at the beginning of the second half, Mr. Kim brought on Nguyen Duc Chien to replace Nguyen Hoang Duc. The midfield of the Vietnamese team is no longer able to organize play as Le Pham Thanh Long is surrounded by opponents. Meanwhile, Duc Chien was unable to pass the ball and organize.
Every time he attacked, this midfielder did not show the necessary effectiveness. When the midfield collapsed at one point, the Vietnamese team was put in a passive position, Tran Trung Kien's goal missed at least 3 times.
In addition, Dinh Bac, Van Khang and Gia Hung did not make any difference to the Vietnamese team's attack.
But it is difficult to put all the responsibility on coach Kim Sang-sik. He doesn't have much better material than what he has on the pitch. That said, the Vietnamese team turned out not to be as strong as many people thought.
In fact, the victory over Nepal helped the Vietnamese team achieve the immediate goal and let's be temporarily satisfied with this.
