French newspaper interested in coach Troussier's World Cup goal
AFP news agency headlined "New coach of Vietnam team aiming for the World Cup", when reporting on Philippe Troussier's first press conference as the head coach of the Vietnam team yesterday. The French newspaper L'Equipe, the homepage of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times or the Indonesian newspaper Bola all emphasized this detail.
"Expanding to 48 teams at the 2026 World Cup is an opportunity for Vietnam, as well as our ultimate goal," said coach Troussier, AFP. And L'Equipe emphasized sharing: "I can't do this alone because I'm just a guide. If we unite and try our best, Vietnamese football will do it."
The contract between Troussier and VFF has a term of nearly three and a half years, from March 1, 2023 to July 1, 2026 - coinciding with the end of the World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico. In a press conference at VFF headquarters yesterday, the French leader admitted that the goal of attending the 2026 World Cup made him the most excited and decided to lead the Vietnamese team. Troussier believes that the immediate international tournaments such as the SEA Games, the 2023 Asian Cup finals, the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifiers, and the AFF Cup will be an opportunity for Vietnamese teams to face many strong opponents and accumulate more experience. experience to reach the highest goal in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Japanese newspapers such as Kyodo news agency, Sponichi Annex newspaper are more interested in Troussier's statement that Vietnam can defeat Japan. The peak of the French coach's career, which is associated with football in the land of the rising sun, when he won the 2000 Asian Cup and first entered the 1/8 round of the 2002 World Cup. Therefore, Troussier said that the Japanese might be worried. a bit when confronting Vietnam led by him.
According to the 67-year-old leader, anything can happen in football with evidence that Japan defeated the great powers Germany and Spain in the 2022 World Cup. However, he also made the argument: " Against Japan 10 games, can we win nine out of ten or just win one and get nothing."
In Indonesia, Super Skor newspaper recalled the past coach Troussier led Qatar to lose 1-2 to Indonesia in the group stage of the 2004 Asian Cup. This is considered the reason why Troussier was fired two days later, and Qatar was also eliminated from the group stage. when ranked last. "The upcoming match between Vietnam, led by coach Troussier and Indonesia, will be very interesting and worth waiting for," commented Super Skor.
Immediately after signing the contract with VFF, coach Troussier announced the list of summoning U22 Vietnam with 41 players. The U22 team focused on dividing into four phases in March 2023 to prepare for the near goal of the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, further to the Asian U23 qualifiers 2024 and ASIAD 19.
