HO CHI MINH CITY (7 Sept 2012) – If there is anything at all that the on-going AFF Under-19 Tournament has taught Vietnam coach Mai Duc Chung, it is that they need more competitive matches to get better.
He said after watching his side being pummelled 4-0 by Uzbekistan last night, that the disparity between his and that of the other teams in Asia is rather obvious. The hosts have managed to score only once as against conceding ten goals.
“When you look at the size of the players and the way they play, the gap between teams from ASEAN and that of the others from Asia is rather wide,” said Duc Chung.
“And that is why matches like these that have been arranged by the AFF are so very important to us. From here, we realised just how far we are in terms of ability and how much work has to be done.
“The long term plan is that we need more quality matches to play against more competitive opponents. I believe that this is the only way for us to get better.”
Duc Chung said that from the analysis that had been done in the last three matches, he realised that players from Vietnam played with less confidence against teams from Asia than when they faced teams from the ASEAN region.
He said that this lack of confidence is bad for the team in the long run where it affected their ability to score goals and in turn put pressure on the squad.
“Last night, the strikers were just so disappointing. We could have scored two or three goals with the chances that we have created in the first half,” added Duc Chung.
“There are several good players in the team for sure like the skilful Nguyen Thai Sung, but we have to build his confidence and that takes time.”
AFF UNDER-19 TOURNAMENT 2012
(All matches at the Thong Nhat Stadium)
2 Sept 2012: AUSTRALIA 1 UZBEKISTAN 2 / IR IRAN 2 VIETNAM 1
4 Sept 2012: UZBEKISTAN 1 IR IRAN 2 / VIETNAM 0 AUSTRALIA 4
6 Sept 2012: AUSTRALIA 1 IR IRAN 4 / UZBEKISTAN 4 VIETNAM 0
8 Sept 2012: Australia vs Vietnam (1600) / Iran vs Uzbekistan (1830)
STANDINGS
|
TEAM |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
PTS |
| Iran |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
3 |
+5 |
9 |
| Uzbekistan |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
-4 |
6 |
| Australia |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
6 |
= |
3 |
| Vietnam |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
10 |
-9 |
0 |
