By Cuong Pham Viet
YANGON (17 Nov 2016) – It’s been almost ten years but no one in Vietnam seems to have forgotten that ‘golden moment’ in 2008 when the nation of 90 million celebrated a momentous event in their football history.
In the dying minutes of the second leg of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2008 final between Vietnam and Thailand, striker Le Cong Vinh rose above everyone else to head home the equaliser following a fabulous free-kick from captain Minh Phuong.
Having won the first-leg 2-1 in Bangkok, that goal from Cong Vinh was enough for Vietnam to claim the throne of South East Asian football.
My Dinh National Stadium exploded. Minutes later in the streets of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other big cities around the country erupted in joy as tens of thousands of supporters celebrated vividly as if their team had just won the FIFA World Cup.
The AFF Suzuki Cup might not be a major world trophy but winning it still brought extreme celebration to the Vietnamese people. It was the first time Vietnam had picked up a regional trophy!
For a football-mad country like Vietnam, the wait had been too long. In South East Asia, Vietnam had never been able to get out of the shadow of ‘giant’ Thailand.
At almost every competitions like the SEA Games or the Tiger Cup (predecessor of AFF Suzuki Cup) ended with a defeat at the hands of Thailand. And when Thailand, for some reasons, could not make it to the final, Vietnam would lose painfully to another team.
All that made winning the AFF Suzuki Cup 2008 one of the best moments in many supporters’ life. And they all want to relive that joy with a new generation of players.
New year, new hope
As always, Vietnam will in Myanmar with enormous expectation considering that 2016 has so far been the best year for Vietnam football.
The Futsal national team made it to round of 16 in the FIFA Futsal World Cup while the U16s played impressively at the AFC U16 Championship where they got to the quarter-finals.
More recently, the U19s achieved a place in the next year’s FIFA U20 World Cup.
The national team themselves have also showed the ability to compete at high level. They won 10 of 14 official matches under new coach Nguyen Huu Thang, most recently a 3-2 win over regional arch-rival Indonesia in Hanoi.
The short-pass, high-tempo style that Huu Thang has been trying to instill seems the perfect fit with the current crop of Vietnamese footballers. It is an opposite image of Vietnam under former coach Toshiya Miura, when they used a painfully great number of long balls.
Unlike Miura, Huu Thang is flexible enough to mix his team with players of different if not contrasting styles. Vietnam at the moment is a good mix between experienced veterans like captain Cong Vinh, winger Thanh Luong, defender Dinh Luat and young exciting prospects like midfielders Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh, striker Cong Phuong or defenders Van Thanh and Ngoc Hai.
Huu Thang is also able to harmonize the ‘conflict’ between players from SLNA, best known for their hard-working but also a little bit violent style, and players from HAGL, who have more technical quality yet seem more fragile.
The weakness
High expectation, as it is in previous competitions, can be Huu Thang and Co.’s biggest enemy. Some have already voiced concerns about the fact that the team is being judged through other teams’ success. Can they achieve as high as the U19s? Can they play as bravely as the futsal team?
When the results are still positive, then that’s OK. But if Vietnam, for example, start the group stage with a draw or lose against co-host Myanmar, then the pressure will surely mount.
There will be derailment or even a total collapse. That was the scenario at the AFF Suzuki Cup 2012, when Vietnam even failed to make past the group stage.
For the moment, though the pressure is on the defense. In the last five games, Vietnam have conceded seven goals, a very worrying figures considering that they only gave up four goals in Huu Thang’s first seven matches in charge.
In their last game against Indonesia, Vietnam found themselves having to play catch up twice after some mistakes.
Another issue is also in the holding midfielder position. When Vietnam is defending, they often deploy a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Nguyen Hoang Thinh the man responsible for the job at the heart of defense. No one can do it better than him.
But without him, Vietnam are extremely vulnerable to counter-attacks, which was painfully exposed in the last match against Indonesia. And Hoang Thinh is very much injury-prone which begs the question if he can last throughout the whole campaign this year.
The strength
Unlike Miura, Huu Thang has also put in a lot of effort on improving the team’s attacking ability. And it seems to be paying off where Vietnam have scored a handful of goals – 4 against Chinese Taipei, 2 against Syria, Hongkong, 5 against Indonesia in 2 matches, and 5 more against North Korea.
Vietnam’s main threats come from the flanks. In Nguyen Thanh Luong, Vu Minh Tuan, Dinh Thanh Trung, Nguyen Van Toan, they have pacy and tricky wingers who can somehow find a way to get into the opposing box.
Long ball from the back and vertical passing are two other dangerous weapons of Vietnam. When the midfield is blocked, Vietnam can easily switch to long-ball tactics thanks to the vision and passing ability of central defender Que Ngoc Hai. Or they can count on Luong Xuan Truong, with his vertical passes.
The man to watch
It is fair to say that Luong Xuan Truong is carrying the hope of the whole nation. One of the most important members of the ‘great’ U19 side, Xuan Truong has improved a lot in the last two years, especially after his move to South Korean club Incheon. It can be said that Xuan Truong is the rare all-round midfielder that Vietnam football have been longing for years, even decades.
Under Huu Thang, Xuan Truong’s position is undispensable. He is the man taking charge of dictating the team’s play through his good touch, positioning and a wide range of passing.
His calmness on the ball is the precious asset of the team. Moreover, he can create chances, assist, and even score himself. The young player from HAGL is also a freekick specialist, and a decent shooter.
The AFF Suzuki Cup 2016 will be the first big show for the 21-year-old. If he can withstand the huge pressure and play at his full potential, then Vietnam will have a decent chance to win the competition, and bring back the ecstasy of AFF Suzuki Cup 2008 to the adoring public.
