Losing World Cup tickets because of power-play, the Vietnamese team cannot forget this pain

NFamiliar with “Reading” the FUTSAL TEAM VN

Before the play-off match yesterday afternoon (April 26), the Vietnamese futsal team faced the Kyrgyzstan futsal team twice in the past. The head-to-head record is completely in favor of Kyrgyzstan with 2 wins. However, the last time the two teams met was 14 years ago (2010). At the present time, things have changed quite a lot when the Vietnamese futsal team is rated higher than Kyrgyzstan in theory, with a higher rank on the rankings (44 compared to 49). But in reality, the Vietnamese and Kyrgyzstan futsal teams are considered equal when they meet in the play-off round of the 2024 Asian futsal tournament.

The Kyrgyzstan futsal team possesses quality attack, with an open and liberal playing style. This is clearly shown by the fact that they scored 10 goals, but also conceded 9 times after 3 group stage matches. However, when encountering the Vietnamese futsal team, the Central Asian representative showed that they had carefully studied coach Diego Giustozzi and his team. The Kyrgyzstan futsal team entered the game extremely cautiously and pragmatically, completely different from their image in the shock win over Japan (3-2) and draw with South Korea (5-5) in the group stage.

The Vietnamese futsal team can play well and confidently when clashing with strong opponents. However, having to play against equal or underrated teams is not the strong point of coach Giustozzi and his team. The Kyrgyzstan futsal team has applied a “nasty” style of play by defending very tightly and organizing quick counterattacks. The fact that Kyrgyzstan players understand the Vietnamese futsal team well can be explained by the appearance of coach Lluis Bernat Molina. This Spanish coach is no stranger to Vietnamese futsal fans, having worked at Thai Son Nam Club from 2017 to 2019. Therefore, Mr. Bernat Molina has proposed solutions. Very reasonable to neutralize Vietnamese players.

The Kyrgyzstan futsal team caused many difficulties for the Vietnamese team, even though coach Giustozzi and his team were the ones controlling the match. When you hold the ball a lot but are stuck and can’t find a way to penetrate the opponent’s defense system, making mistakes is an inevitable consequence. The Vietnamese players had a poorly coordinated attack, creating an opportunity for the Kyrgyzstan futsal team to counterattack quickly and score the opening goal in the first half.

“DAO 2 BLADE” POWER-PLAY

Scoring only 4 goals after 4 matches (including 1 direct free kick at a distance of 10 m) speaks to the problem of the Vietnamese futsal team. From the beginning of the 2024 Asian Futsal Finals, the drawback of the team led by Coach Giustozzi lies in finishing and the ability to take advantage of opportunities.

A situation that made good use of a rare opportunity helped the Vietnamese futsal team score an equalizing goal in the first half. Nguyen Manh Dung was the one who surprised with a very fast shot at medium distance to tie the game. race back to the starting line. Things would have become much more favorable if Coach Giustozzi’s students knew how to take advantage of the opportunities created. Facing the opposing goalkeeper and even without a marker, Dao Minh Quang was still too ungainly and missed the opportunity to put the Vietnamese futsal team ahead before the match entered halftime.

The match reached its climax in the final minutes, when the Vietnamese futsal team played power-play (using the goalkeeper as the 5th attacking player to force the opponent into a defensive situation with few players) and scored an equalizer. 2-2 as Nguyen Manh Dung continued to shine. However, Coach Giustozzi made a mistake by still using the “double-edged sword” of power-play, with the ambition to win right in the official match time. The Vietnamese futsal team had to accept the opponent’s “recovery” and had to accept a final defeat of 2-3. If they chose the safe option of defending a draw to send the match to a penalty shootout, the Vietnamese futsal team would have had hope of winning as Ho Van Y is always excellent in goal.

Losing in the first play-off match, the goal of winning a World Cup ticket for the third time in a row has officially ended for the Vietnamese futsal team.