Luck does not smile
Before kickoff, coach Diego Giustozzi (Argentinian) of the Vietnam futsal team suddenly said: “I like teams that tend to attack and play with dedication like Thailand or Uzbekistan. As for us, the Vietnamese futsal team came here to fight and win tickets to the World Cup.”
What happened on the field in the quarterfinals between the Vietnam and Uzbekistan futsal teams was exactly what the Argentine coach said. Uzbekistan is the team that plays more offensively in this match. The Vietnamese futsal team has a hard time defending, but the more the opponent plays offensively, the more opportunities we have to counterattack.
Luck is not smiling on the Vietnamese team (red shirt)
From such attacks, the Vietnamese futsal team scored a goal from Thinh Phat in the 17th minute (in futsal, each half has 20 minutes, not counting the time the ball is out of play).
In addition, the Vietnamese futsal team had 3 more shots that hit the opponent’s goal in the first and second half. That is knowing that they know each other, the Vietnamese futsal team knows that they are weaker than their opponents. 4 times in the finals of the Asian futsal tournament, so we played patiently and proactively chose a defensive and counter-attacking style. As for the bravery, the Vietnamese futsal team, while playing patiently above, was under a lot of pressure from Uzbekistan, goalkeeper Ho Van Y’s goal was continuously bombarded. But Ho Van Y and the entire system of the Vietnamese futsal team in general played very resiliently, rolling to block the ball at the opponent’s feet.
Captain Pham Duc Hoa
It’s tactical and mental. As for personnel issues, the Vietnamese futsal team has enough people to apply the tactics proposed by coach Diego Giustozzi. That is, when defending, we have enough personnel to discourage the strikers of the Central Asian team, the most prominent of which is goalkeeper Ho Van Y with incredibly fast reflexes. In counter-attack situations, we have enough factors to solve the situation, both in Nguyen Thinh Phat’s goal, or in the powerful finishing shots of Pham Duc Hoa or Tran Thai Huy…
In general, the Vietnamese futsal team has all the necessary conditions to create a miracle against the former Asian runner-up Uzbekistan, the only thing missing is luck. Because, if a weaker team wants to win against a stronger team, in addition to expertise, performance, a good coach, correct calculations, they definitely need more luck. Unfortunately, coach Diego Giustozzi’s team does not have this luck. If we are lucky, if only 1 of our 3 shots on goal are successful, the Vietnam futsal team can have a different result than losing 1-2.
Thrilling play-off round
Anyway, the Vietnamese futsal team still has a chance to compete in the play-off round. Our 3 opponents in this round, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan, no team is stronger than coach Diego Giustozzi’s team. The Vietnamese futsal team will meet Kyrgyzstan in the first play-off match on April 26. If we win against Kyrgyzstan, we will face the winner of the match between Iraq and Afghanistan on April 28, in the second play-off match.
In the quarterfinals against Uzbekistan, the Vietnamese futsal team improved a lot compared to the group stage. However, facing Kyrgyzstan, Duc Hoa and his teammates must be cautious. Considered a “paving” team in Group C, the Kyrgyzstan futsal team excellently ranked 2nd with 5 points (1 win 2 draws), equal to the top team Tajikistan. More worth mentioning, in this match, this team defeated the Japanese team 3-2, “snatching a ticket” to the quarterfinals from this opponent. The Kyrgyzstan team also scored 10 goals, the most in Group C.
