The Indonesian team currently has better forces than the Vietnamese team, but in terms of position and opportunities in Group F, Troussier and his team are better.
Hoang Duc is the expected return of the Vietnamese team after the 2023 Asian Cup. Photo: Minh Dan
The heat of the two matches between Vietnam and Indonesia has increased in recent days, especially when defender Do Duy Manh shared that the Indonesian team has too many naturalized Dutch players.
From President of the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) Erick Thohir, coach Shin Tae-yong to football experts from thousands of islands all responded to the Vietnamese player’s statement.
The Indonesian team is confidently aiming for the next victory against the Vietnamese team after the 2023 Asian Cup. PSSI has invested all the best resources from training abroad, hastily naturalized the players to recruit Indonesia and try to be strong.
Initially, the team succeeded in ending the 8-year streak of not winning against Vietnam at the recent Asian Cup. That was the match in which Shin Tae-yong’s students only controlled the ball 42.7% but launched 16 shots (compared to 11 of the Vietnamese team), with 5 hits on target, compared to 3 of the team. Vietnam.
In this match, Tim Garuda (nickname of the Indonesian team) also made 24 fouls, 3 times more than the Vietnam team. Proactively applying constant pressure and attacking directly was done very well by the Indonesian team.
Failure at the 2023 Asian Cup brings many lessons to the Vietnamese team. Coach Troussier is under a lot of pressure, especially when the team is without the services of some key players due to injury such as Que Ngoc Hai, Tuan Hai, Tuan Anh, Duy Manh…
However, the situation in Group F is still favorable for the Vietnamese team. The team has 3 points, ranking 2/4, while the Indonesian team has only 1 point, ranking at the bottom of the table. Quang Hai and his teammates will continue to stand above their opponents and dominate the race to advance to Group F if they do not lose in both of their next matches. In the 3rd and 4th matches also in Group F, it will be very difficult for the Philippines team to create a surprise against the Iraq team.
To do that, Mr. Troussier will certainly make changes compared to January 2024 in all three lines, both in terms of personnel and playing style. The Vietnamese team does not need beautiful football, they just need favorable results against the Indonesian team. The team needs a different image than the 2023 Asian Cup.
The Vietnamese team has not lost to the Indonesian team away from home since the end of 2016. The team also welcomed the return of important factors on all three lines: Bui Tien Dung, Nguyen Hoang Duc and Nguyen Tien Linh. Among them, Tien Linh is considered the “god” of the Indonesian team, having scored 4 goals against them in recent years.
Coach Shin Tae-yong himself is also under great pressure. He was criticized by the media and Indonesian experts for “accidentally” saying that he was unlikely to win Vietnam’s next two matches. The Korean strategist still highly appreciates the resilience and good organization of the Vietnamese team. The Vietnamese team still has great advantages to win a favorable result against the Indonesian team at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on March 21, before when returning to play at My Dinh home stadium 5 days later.