Vietnam - Iran: Challenge of bravery
* Vietnam - Iran: 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 7, on MetaSports.
Reaching six points thanks to victories over Australia and Qatar, teachers and coaches Hoang Anh Tuan faced many options. If they win or draw with Iran (3 points), Vietnam will definitely enter the quarterfinals with the top of Group B. If they lose, the team is unlikely to be eliminated, but must hand their fate to someone else. At that time, Vietnam must pray for the remaining match to have a draw result or either Qatar wins or Australia does not win by a big difference. Currently, Australia (3 points) and Qatar (0 points) are still hopeful.
Aware of that situation, Mr. Tuan reminded the players absolutely not to be subjective, asking them to put out of their heads the joy of the past victory. "We will not be able to enter the match with the idea of a draw," he said before training on March 6. "There have been previous lessons that show how dangerous it is for a player to come into the game with a one-point goal."
Iran is a developed football background in Asia, regularly attending the World Cup. At the U20 level, they have won the Asian championship four times in a row in 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976. Although the best achievement in the 21st century is tied for third place with Vietnam in 2016, they are still evaluated. High.
The sudden loss of Australia 2-3, after defeating Qatar in the opening leg, left Iran with only one option to win against Vietnam. That puts them more or less under pressure. But according to coach Hoang Anh Tuan, at the youth football level, it is normal to win a match and lose a match, so he still has great respect for Iran and requires Vietnamese players to follow a disciplined football style. law, defense and counterattack with existing people.
Vietnam succeeded with this tactic to finish off Australia and Qatar. But Iran is a harsher test. After two matches, the west Asian team showed the ability to create terrible chances with 43 shots. Vietnam's defense certainly has to work hard to reduce the risk for goalkeeper Cao Van Binh.
Vietnam has a strong force, except for Ho Van Cuong, who is not sure to play. Meanwhile, Iran lost two mainstays Mohammad Reza Torabi to injury and Irfan Ghorbani suspended. However, coach Marfavi is still confident that he will catch Vietnam. According to him, Vietnam is very skillful in creating the game and applying effective tactics, but Iran will win if it realizes the plans set out by the Training Board.
The two teams have never met in the U20 tournaments. However, at the youth level, the Vietnamese Olympic Games were shocked when they won the Iran Olympics 4-1 at the 2014 Asiad held in South Korea. At that time, coach Toshiya Miura also built a defensive - counter-attack style with a good physical foundation to help Vietnam win.
After nine years, U20 Vietnam under coach Hoang Anh Tuan is playing a similar game. In which, the pillars are Van Truong, Van Khang, Quoc Viet all showing their ability. "Iran is Asia's leading football, so we have to be very careful. The team will enter the match with confidence, unity and discipline to achieve the best results," striker Quoc Viet affirmed.
