Vietnam team: 2 challenges, 1 belief in defeating the Philippines

Vietnam team: Stressing about physical fitness

These days, except for the time to practice and eat, the command that is most enthusiastically responded to by the Vietnamese team players is “take advantage of sleep to regain strength”.

After the 1-0 victory over Indonesia, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team only had more than 1 hour to practice recovery, eat lunch and then go to bed early so they had to get up at 5 a.m. the next morning to travel from school to school. Viet Tri landed in Hanoi and went straight to Noi Bai airport, catching a flight at 8 a.m. to the Philippines.

In the capital Manila, the Vietnamese team only had two practice sessions while coach Kim Sang-sik had to take advantage of the time to let his players rest and recover after a rather exhausting match against Indonesia, which played a very difficult death-defence game. bear.

Physical fitness will be a very important problem that Mr. Kim will have to have an effective solution if he wants the Vietnamese team to win in their trip to the Philippines, to get their hands on the ticket to the 2024 AFF Cup semi-finals.

Above challenge is faith

As mentioned above, rushing to move and lack of sleep causes the players’ physical strength to be significantly affected for the next match. Fortunately, the home team Philippines also had to fly home from Laos after a 1-1 draw with this opponent.

In addition, playing on artificial turf can easily cause injuries, forcing the Vietnamese team’s coaching staff to be more careful, especially when the team is having a few minor injuries.

Playing on artificial turf always causes problems for the Vietnamese team. Two years ago, coach Park Hang-seo and his team, after crushing Malaysia 3-0, failed to accept a 0-0 draw with Singapore at the Jalan Besar artificial turf field.

Previously, the U.22 Vietnam team was crowned the first gold medalist at the SEA Games after nearly 60 years after a 3-0 victory over Indonesia, but had to pay the price when Quang Hai suffered a calf injury in the group stage and many others. The player has a muscle strain and endures pain while playing.

But as mentioned above, the Rizal Memorial Stadium in the capital Manila, although it brings challenges, is still a place that leaves beautiful memories for Tien Linh, Tan Tai, Thanh Chung, Hoang Duc… with the 2019 SEA Games gold medal, or close to it. especially the 2-0 victory over the Philippines team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers more than a year ago.

Therefore, despite the challenges, above all the Vietnamese team has great confidence for the next match, to erase the streak of not being able to win in the third match at the AFF Cup that has been lingering for the past 6 years. Just one more victory, we will win tickets to the semi-finals of AFF Cup 2024.