Indonesia’s ‘damaging’ throw-ins: Has Vietnam found a way to neutralize them?

With throw-ins like this, Indonesia scored the only goal in the 1-0 win over Myanmar (the ball bounced from the throw-in, Indonesia’s Asnawi Mangkualam shot it, hitting Myanmar’s Nyi Aung into the net) and 1 goal in the match against Laos (Muhammad Ferarri headed directly from Pratama Arhan’s throw-in into the net).

However, if you pay close attention, since the second goal in the match on the evening of December 12, the Laos team has not lost any more goals from throw-ins from Indonesia in general and from Pratama Arhan in particular. To control these throw-ins, the Laos team arranged the tallest central defender to stand firmly in front of the home team’s 5m 50 area. This is the point where Indonesian players’ throw-ins often come to. Thanks to his good physique, this midfielder of the Laos team jumped higher than the Indonesian attackers, intercepting high balls from the opponent’s throw-ins.

The Vietnamese team currently has no shortage of midfielders with good physiques. Bui Hoang Viet Anh (1.85 m), Nguyen Thanh Binh (1.83 m), or Nguyen Thanh Chung (1.82 m) are capable of implementing the same anti-high ball solution as the Laos team did. appears before Indonesia.

In addition, the Vietnamese team currently has a great advantage, which is that goalkeeper Nguyen Filip has a very good height (1.92 m) and is very good at catching high balls, thanks to training and a long time playing. compete in Europe. In theory, goalkeeper Nguyen Filip plays the ball much better than the goalkeeper of the Laos team (who chose the wrong spot from Pratama Arhan’s throw-in in the Laos team’s second goal against Indonesia).

And yet, on how to resolve similar throw-in situations, former coach of the Vietnamese team, Mr. Phan Thanh Hung, proposed: “Central defenders must push Indonesia’s attacking players out of the 5m 50 area of ​​the field. home team, give that area to the goalkeeper to have space to work. At that time, it will be easier for goalkeepers to control balls like this.”

Last August, when coach Hoang Anh Tuan’s Vietnam U.23 team clashed with coach Shin Tae-yong’s Indonesia U.23 team, in the final of the Southeast Asia U.23 tournament, the youth team of the land of thousands At that time, the island also made a series of throw-ins straight into the penalty area of ​​the U.23 Vietnam team. However, all of these throw-ins are controlled by us.

After the above final match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan shared: “Indonesia’s throw-ins are quite special, but compared to free kicks (direct free kicks, corner kicks) in similar positions, throw-ins like this are not as dangerous. We can control their free kick situations, so why worry about throw-ins in similar positions? The problem for defensive teams in situations like this, in my opinion, comes from the mind. reason. If we prepare well, arrange personnel properly in defensive coordination, and the goalkeeper plays proactively when Indonesian players throw in, we can prevent throw-ins like this.”

Also psychologically, if a certain ball appears occasionally, it will be surprising. And if that phase is repeated in the same way over and over again, the surprise will no longer exist. The Vietnamese team is no longer surprised by Pratama Arhan’s throw-in situations in particular and the Indonesian team in general. We have too much time to study throw-ins like that, there’s no reason for us to be afraid of our opponents’ throw-ins!