When the Vietnam futsal team lost 2-3 to the Indonesian team in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Asian Futsal Championship, there was still a feeling of disbelief. When the archipelago team surpassed the Japanese team to enter the final, there was still a comparison that Vietnam futsal also once defeated this opponent (Asian tournament in 2016). But when mentioning the name Hector Souto, it is the question "does Vietnam futsal regret it?".
Souto used to be the assistant coach of the Vietnamese futsal team that won a ticket to the World Cup. Arriving in Indonesia, the Spanish coach won the 2024 Southeast Asian Championship, won the 2025 SEA Games Gold Medal, reached the final of the 2026 Asian Championship and played a great match. Clearly, the feeling of "regret" is real, when placed next to the sign of stagnation of Vietnamese futsal recently. It's like the feeling of "standing on this mountain looking at that mountain".
But remember, Vietnamese futsal also has Diego Giustozzi, who once helped Argentina win the world championship in the year Vietnam first participated in the world arena (2016). The problem is, his achievements with the team are not good enough, so the feeling of regretting Souto is real and completely understandable.
The problem is that Souto's success stems from the reality of what Indonesian futsal has done, while Giustozzi's world championship brand cannot bear the shortcomings of domestic futsal. A quality captain but the ship is not upgraded, then facing storms with spirit will only be a question of when it will be broken.
Standing on this mountain and looking at that mountain" often appears when people see the results without wanting to see the whole process. Seeing others succeed, they think they are luckier. Seeing other places develop, they think they are missing something. But in fact, what needs to be done is to ask back whether they have done enough, whether the environment is ready?
Life does not lack people in such a state, with the belief that "other places will be better". They move away but ignore changing capacity, discipline and thinking, so wherever they stand, there will be a time to dream of another mountain.
Mountain does not determine a person's height. It is people who determine their value. But on the other hand, it is also necessary to remember that if there are talented people but the background is not good enough, then do not demand high achievements.
