DANG’S DREAM OF CHURCH Asian
Before the 2024 Asian Futsal Finals kicked off in Thailand, veteran Pham Duc Hoa (a player who plays the winger position in futsal) once revealed: “The whole team’s goal is to continue to win tickets to attend. We are also aiming for our first medal at the Asian futsal tournament. To achieve a higher result than 4th place in 2016, we need a little more luck.”
The Vietnamese futsal team (left) must be calm to resolve the match effectively
The Vietnamese futsal team was once very close to the opportunity to realize their dream, when they had a lead and created a good match with Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals. However, luck is still not smiling. Coach Giustozzi and his team lost 1-2 to Uzbekistan and had to stop in the 8-team round. Unable to advance to the semi-finals, the Vietnamese futsal team’s dream of conquering the first Asian medal remains unfinished.
KTICKETS COMPETITION HOT
The 2024 Asian Futsal Finals is also the 2024 Futsal World Cup qualifier taking place in Uzbekistan in September. The four teams participating in the semi-finals of the Asian tournament will win direct tickets to the world’s largest futsal playground. Because Uzbekistan is the host (with special eligibility to participate), when this country’s futsal team reaches the semi-finals, the round will be played
Play-off will be conducted to determine the 5th team to participate in the World Cup. Therefore, encountering Uzbekistan in the Asian quarterfinals is considered lucky for the Vietnamese futsal team, as coach Giustozzi and his team’s chances of winning the right to participate in the World Cup will be greater.
Vietnam’s unfortunate defeat (left)
The play-off round will be the last chance for the Vietnamese futsal team to win tickets to the 3rd consecutive Futsal World Cup (after 2016 and 2021). The first challenge that Pham Duc Hoa and his teammates need to overcome to compete for a ticket to the World Cup is the Kyrgyzstan futsal team. In a difficult group with the appearance of defending champion Japan, Kyrgyzstan surprised everyone by winning a ticket to the quarterfinals with second place in Group C. Kyrgyzstan even created an earthquake right from the turn. the first match with an unbelievable 3-2 victory over “Green Samurai”. In the remaining 2 matches of the group stage, Kyrgyzstan drew 2-2 with Tajikistan and 5-5 with South Korea. In the quarterfinals, Kyrgyzstan lost heavily with a score of 1-6 to Iran, the team that was considered the number 1 candidate for the championship.
If they overcome Kyrgyzstan, coach Giustozzi and his team will face the winner of the play-off match between Iraq and Afghanistan (also played on April 26), to compete for a ticket to the 2024 Futsal World Cup.
PHAI IS MORE AWARE AND MORE CONFIDENT
On the world futsal rankings, the Vietnamese futsal team ranked 44th, 5 places higher than Kyrgyzstan. However, the position on the rankings is only theoretical. In fact, the Vietnamese futsal team struggled quite a bit when facing teams several dozen places lower on the rankings such as Myanmar and China in the group stage. Meanwhile, the Kyrgyzstan futsal team is definitely not an easy opponent when it defeated Japan. However, drawing against a weak opponent like South Korea or losing heavily to Iran also shows that the Kyrgyz team is not very stable. The chances of winning the play-off match are equally divided between both sides.
Vietnam Futsal Golden Ball 2018 Vu Quoc Hung commented: “In the match against Uzbekistan, the Vietnam futsal team showed many positive points and was much more confident than in previous matches. The defense was tight and there was a fight. The tactics were clear and deserved a better result in the quarterfinals. However, the Vietnamese players only played very well in the first half. In the second half, they were no longer confident in the tactical pieces, only playing mainly. It’s a long time to wait for the end of time, so losing is inevitable. The Vietnamese futsal team has improved a lot, but needs to be more alert and confident when they have a lead and take advantage of the match. “cold” to maintain coherence in gameplay and control the pace of the match to preserve the score.
Besides, finishing is still an important thing that Vietnamese players need to improve. Former player Quoc Hung shared: “I feel that, in the finishing stage, the whole team is under some pressure that cannot be relieved, so the shots are not very effective. I hope the players “If Vietnamese players can overcome the pressure to play better in the match against Kyrgyzstan, they must know how to seize opportunities to solve the match.”
