The real challenge of the Vietnamese team

2nd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia

10:17, November 21, 2023

At 7:00 p.m. tonight, November 21, the Vietnamese team will face the continent’s top rival, the Iraqi team, at My Dinh home field in the second qualifying round of Group F of the 2026 World Cup in Asia.

In the last four matches between the Vietnamese team and the Iraqi team, the home team at My Dinh Stadium had only one draw, while losing three matches. However, this somewhat brings psychological comfort to Vietnamese players because as Vietnam team coach Philippe Troussier commented: “In theory, Iraq is rated higher. They have many experienced players who play football in Europe. They also won the Asian championship. I know many people think Vietnam is weaker and has more to lose. But, that’s fine, my players will enter the game with the mindset of having nothing to lose, and the desire to prove everyone wrong. Three points against the Philippines helps Vietnamese players feel more confident. We will use that as an opportunity.”

Coach Philippe Troussier has prepared quite carefully for this match, saying: “Controlling the ball forces the opponent to play with us. That is also to prevent the opponent from attacking and it is an effective defense. Everyone sees that the world’s strongest teams play to control the ball, not letting their opponents win the ball easily. The players need to show more ability and boldly control the ball. Only when we can do so will we confidently confront the region’s leading opponents.”

Both Vietnam and Iraq teams have quite similar playing styles, controlling the ball well. However, with Asia’s top players, the West Asian team’s ability to control the ball is much better. Furthermore, the strength of Iraqi strikers comes from many lines of players.

In this team’s recent 5-1 win over Indonesia, four Iraqi players scored (the remaining goal was an own goal by an Indonesian player), showing that many Iraqi players finished well. To defend against the Iraqi team, the Vietnamese team’s defense needs to play very closely as a team and cover tightly to hope to stop the opponent.

With the striker line considered the weakest compared to the remaining lines, the Vietnamese team needs to have a flexible playing style to aim for points, as well as try to limit losses to compete for tickets for the ranked team. two in this group.

Preparing for the match against the Vietnam team tonight, Iraq team coach Jesus Casas has called in some additional strikers so this team is considered even stronger than the match against Indonesia. This will be a very difficult match for coach Philippe Troussier’s team.

According to Nhan Dan Electronics