Palestine coach: 'Vietnam has not changed much compared to Park Hang-seo's time'

*Vietnam - Palestine: 7:30 p.m. Monday, September 11, on MetaSports.

Head coach Palestine assessed that Vietnamese football has gone through four years of good development, with a stable transition between the Park and Troussier eras. Coach Daboub said he watched Vietnam's two friendly matches in June, winning 1-0 against Syria and Hong Kong, and he had his own feelings.

"Vietnam's tactics have not changed too much compared to the previous coach's time," the 51-year-old military leader said at a press conference on the afternoon of September 10. "Vietnam's way of playing is still based on collectivity and solidarity, instead of outstanding individuals."

After a period of great success with Coach Park, in early 2023 VFF decided to choose Coach Troussier as his successor. Basically, the French coach's tactics are not much different from his predecessor, especially in the 3-4-3 system. However, coach Troussier tends to want the team to play more proactively and accept higher risks. Previously, he worked in 11 countries, seven teams and won many individual and collective titles in his 40-year coaching career. The most notable was the four years leading the Japanese team, from 1998 to 2002.

Vietnam and Palestine met once in November 2014, with a 3-1 win in favor of the Middle Eastern team. At this time, the two teams are considered balanced, only one place apart on the FIFA table.

Coach Daboub said he takes advantage of friendly matches to test new players, prepare for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and does not take the results seriously. "Vietnam plays well, so it wouldn't be surprising if Palestine lost," he said. "Vietnam can still play at home so they are even more motivated to play better."

Palestine has many prominent faces playing abroad such as goalkeeper Amr Kaddoura for Landskrona BoIS in the Swedish First Division. Striker Saleh Chihadeh of Naters in the Swiss fourth division. However, Palestine is missing two quality strikers, Oday Dabbagh of Charleroi (Belgium) and Mahmoud Abu Warda of Shabab Al-Khalil (Palestine) due to injury.

In 2023, Palestine played four friendly matches, winning 2-1 against Bahrain, drawing 0-0 with Indonesia, losing 0-2 to China and 1-2 to Oman. Palestine will face Vietnam at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, September 11, at Thien Truong Stadium, Nam Dinh.