In football, young players are trained and experienced through each level to mature, but clearly, the opportunity to compete is mostly at a very small level. The problem is, when the opportunity arises, they must know how to seize it, but at the same time, they also need to receive the right confidence, encouragement, and motivation.
In Europe now, Raul Asencio - a 22-year-old central defender of Real Madrid club is a highlight among young players. In just nearly 130 days since his debut for the first team, Asencio has become a mainstay in the defense, thereby, being called up to the Spanish National Team for the first time this March. He is a rare case of going straight to the national team without going through any national U team.
What are Asencio's opportunities? This is the fact that Real Madrid is in a difficult situation due to consecutive injuries in the center-back position. But the player born in Las Palmas himself took advantage of the opportunity to promote everything he had learned since joining Real Madrid at the age of 13. Antonio Rudiger - a German centre-back 10 years older than Asencio, said that he still "scolds" his juniors when making mistakes, but is also the one who gives the most praise every time he has a good move.
That is what the young Vietnamese players need at the moment. It is about giving opportunities but having faith in them, having encouragement and motivation. And also the strictness. Of course, young players themselves will need to focus on being more strict.
Because overcoming pressure is the ability to mature. Sometimes people easily speak, comment, and judge in a "slow direction" style without taking into account the context and circumstances. It can easily cause young players to face psychological barriers when being criticized, criticized, and underrated for making mistakes or performing poorly.
So, Andrej An Khanh - overseas Vietnamese players in the U22 Vietnam team, or Ly Duc, Minh Khoa, Xuan Hoang, Van Viet in the national team, will all need the highest level of confidence, along with trust from the environment. As coach Velizar Popov emphasized, "there needs to be someone who trusts and gives them a chance", to practice a 10,000-time kick...
