Coach Hoang Anh Tuan: 'Even though the youngest, Vietnam can do great things at ASIAD'
* Vietnam - Mongolia: 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 19, on MetaSports.
"The Vietnamese Olympic team is the youngest in the tournament, on average 20.3 years old. But I'm not worried about expertise, because the team has prepared for a long time and thoughtfully for this tournament," Mr. Tuan said before the afternoon practice session. September 18 at Shaoxing Keqiao Jianhu Stadium, more than 40 km from Hangzhou center, one day before the opening match of ASIAD 19 men's soccer.
According to ASIAD 19 men's soccer regulations, teams are allowed to bring the U23 team with three over-age players to China to compete. However, Vietnam participates in the tournament with the U20 core, because VFF wants to invest in the future, creating conditions for young players to have more opportunities to compete on the field. Among coach Hoang Anh Tuan's 22 players, there are 18 under 20 years old. Do Sy Huy, born in 1998, is the only over-age player and the oldest on the team. The second oldest player is striker Nham Manh Dung, 23 years old.
"Maybe in some youth tournaments, the U age group, a one or two year age difference will be very different. But I think being 20 or 21 is not too different from being 23, 24 or 25. The problem here is expertise. How are the players, how is the preparation, will the team play a lot?" Mr. Tuan added.
The Khanh Hoa military leader affirmed that he was not subjective with the above statement. "In terms of international competition experience, my team has quite a few players, such as Khuat Van Khang, Phan Tuan Tai or Nhan Manh Dung. Most recently in the Southeast Asia U23 tournament or the U23 Asian qualifiers Ah, they are all starters," the Vietnam Olympic team coach explained.
Vietnam is in Group B of ASIAD 19 men's soccer, will face Mongolia tomorrow September 19, Iran on September 21 and Saudi Arabia on September 24.
"Things may be difficult for Vietnam, but it is not insurmountable. The team needs to be determined, prepare well, and play properly," coach Hoang Anh Tuan said about the team's upcoming journey.
Vietnam has a favorable match schedule when they meet Mongolia, the team considered the weakest in the group, in the opening match. However, coach Hoang Anh Tuan believes that no opponent is easy, especially the opponent in the first match. Therefore, he asked the players to respect their opponents and enter the game with the highest determination.
Coach Hoang Anh Tuan also affirmed that Vietnam will play with ball control. He added: "This helps players form the habit of playing football, like the national team is playing now. That way of playing is suitable for Vietnamese football, in terms of physicality and body shape. Just play like that We can only overcome our physical weakness. Just look at Japanese football as a model. Their players are not too big and tall, their bodies are not thicker than Europe's, but they choose the appropriate playing style to overcome that."
At ASIAD 19, Do Sy Huy was chosen as team captain, even though he was only a reserve goalkeeper for Hanoi Police, last season he played two matches. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan explained: "Sy Huy is older than many players and that is important. He has participated in the U20 World Cup, at least he always helps young players gain experience."
Meanwhile, Sy Huy sees being awarded the captain's armband as an honor and motivation, but also a great responsibility. "My teammates and I will fight hard to get the best results," said the goalkeeper who also won the V-League championship with CAHN.
Sy Huy said the whole team watched the video, analyzed the Mongolian opponent and completed preparations for the match. However, he refused to reveal details because he needed to keep information confidential.
