Coach Troussier: 'It's a friendly so the game isn't stable'
"It's because of the friendly nature," the French strategist replied when asked about the Vietnamese team often not playing well in the first half but improving thanks to adjustments in the second half. "This is one of a series of opportunities to test personnel, perfect the way of playing, approach the game. This may be a little different from before. Under my watch, the players were asked to keep the ball better , proactive match control and better connectivity".
According to coach Troussier, the goal of this match is to have more opportunities to test rookies, while the matches in October are to complete testing and evaluate players. "When the match takes place, my task is to find problems to operate more smoothly," he said, at the same time feeling regretful because he had to replace defender Pham Trung Hieu and midfielder Trieu Viet Hung just after the match. 20 minutes even though they are all cases he wants to test and are the mainstay of Hai Phong competing in the upcoming AFC Cup.
On Thien Truong Stadium, the two teams played somewhat fiercely in a balanced match. Vietnam is only one level above Palestine in the FIFA table. After a somewhat deadlocked first half due to Palestine's close play and not afraid to make mistakes, Vietnam opened the score in the 61st minute thanks to Nguyen Cong Phuong. 17 minutes later, Nguyen Van Toan broke through and assisted Pham Tuan Hai to seal a 2-0 victory.
This is the third consecutive victory of the team under coach Troussier, including two defeats of FIFA Top 100 generals. The team thus received an additional 4.91 points, surpassing Benin and Syria, and ranked 93rd on the FIFA table.
In this match, goalkeeper Dang Van Lam was not registered to play due to a back injury. Guarding the goal is Nguyen Dinh Trieu. According to Coach Troussier, the friendly matches on this occasion and the upcoming ones are an opportunity for him to give confidence to more players. "Many people think that Van Lam is number one, but I still want to give more opportunities to others. In this match, the players met the basic requirements, performing with a spirit of discipline and will until the last minute. Higher requirements, such as ball control, still have to be improved very, very much," the 68-year-old military leader said.
Asked about two players playing abroad, Cong Phuong and Van Toan, coach Troussier said that both had "acceptable" performances, and sympathized with them when it was difficult for them to operate at high intensity and pressing. fiercely due to lack of experience playing at the club. The former Japan coach said he advised Cong Phuong to find more opportunities to play in a club environment. "I require the players to be more energetic and positive when they don't have the ball. Many other players are also playing this position regularly. Before this gathering, I said I would give the opportunity to Cong. Phuong and Van Toan. But as said, they need to play at the club to compete more fairly at their positions."
In the next training session, Troussier and his team will train in East Asia, and play friendlies with China, Uzbekistan and South Korea in October. The French coach said he has more information for the training session. center, and feel excited to be able to add more U23 players to the team to serve their competitive intentions.
