Rare bright spot
The Vietnamese men's volleyball team had the opening match of leg 2 of SEA V.Cup 2026 against Thailand. After two defeats against this opponent in leg 1, coach Federico Rampazzo's team had a positive start when they won the first two sets with scores of 25-23 and 25-15.
However, the advantage was not converted into a final victory. Thailand successively won the next 3 sets with scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 15-12, thereby completing a 3-2 comeback.
The rare bright spot of the Vietnamese team is the proactive start in the first 2 sets, creating pressure from the serve line and having a connection between positions. Strong serves and difficult directions caused Thailand's first pass to be pushed far from the net.
When the opponent cannot bring the ball to a favorable point, fast attacks are limited, and high passes to the wing are easily judged by the Vietnamese block.
Duy Tuyen contributed significantly in both blocking and serving, including the decisive ace point situation at the end of set 1. Ngoc Thuan played the role of number one main attacker with strong attacking ability, while creating great pressure in his serving turns.
The Vietnamese block also performed well in marking Napadet - one of Thailand's most dangerous strikers. This striker could not maximize his ability to force the opponent to move the ball to other positions and had difficulty maintaining attacking efficiency.
When the first step is stable, setter Van Duy has more options to organize the play. Vietnam not only puts the ball on the wing for Ngoc Thuan but also combines with middle blockers and opponents, forcing the Thai block to move continuously.
The 25-15 victory in set 2 shows that Vietnam has the ability to play evenly, even overwhelm the opponent when maintaining professional quality.
Not keeping up with the opponent's adjustments
The turning point of the match appeared from set 3, when Thailand changed the way they deployed attacks. After Napadet was marked, they proactively distributed more balls for quick shots in position 3 and attacks behind the 3-meter line.
This stretches Vietnam's blocking system. Later-line players also have difficulty choosing defensive positions because the opponent's attack direction becomes more diverse.
While Thailand found a new option, Vietnam could not maintain the pressure from the kicks. When the kicks were no longer difficult, the opponent had the opportunity to take a favorable first step and deploy a fast-paced playing style. The Vietnamese block often had to move to chase the ball, instead of actively choosing positions.
From there, Vietnam's first step also began to fluctuate. Just if the first touch point does not meet the requirements, the setter is forced to put the ball high on the wing. This deployment makes the playing style predictable, and at the same time puts the main attackers in a position to face the fully arranged block.
Hoai Phuong was given a chance in set 3 but did not catch up well with the pace of the match. Some unstable passes made the attacking spearheads not have a favorable finishing posture.
However, the change in the setter position cannot be seen as the only reason leading to Vietnam losing the game. When the first pass is not good and the efficiency of the serve decreases, the organizer of the play also encounters many difficulties.
Lack of bravery ends the match
After letting the opponent narrow the score, the Vietnamese team could not regain the initiative in set 4. The team still had times of chasing, but errors began to appear more in the serving, first-footing and coordinated attacking stages.
Thailand did not play dominantly but maintained stability and limited errors at important moments. When facing difficulties, they proactively changed the direction of attack, redistributed the ball and persistently waited for Vietnam to make mistakes.
Conversely, Vietnam tends to be more dependent on individual handling when the first step is broken. Some attacking situations are carried out hastily with the goal of scoring points immediately, instead of patiently bringing the ball back and organizing blocks and defenses.
Leading 2-0 but losing back also poses a psychological problem and the ability to control the tempo. When the opponent rose up, the Vietnamese players somewhat lost their composure.
The team needs to know how to slow down when having an advantage, prioritize keeping the ball in the field and force the opponent to perform more handling situations. The coaching staff also needs to build more attacking plans in case the first step is not favorable, and at the same time increase the scoring ability of the middle blocker, opposite hitter and rear line to reduce the burden on Ngoc Thuan.
The defeat to Thailand left many regrets. The gap from a good performance to a complete victory at this time lies in stability and bravery in decisive moments.
