Chanathip: "The Vietnamese team played well but Japan played below their ability"

Chanathip Songkrasin will not appear at the 2023 Asian Cup due to injury. However, the midfielder is still interested in the movement of the Asian football championship.

In particular, the match between the Vietnamese and Japanese teams on the evening of January 14 was closely watched by "Thai Messi", because Vietnam is Thailand's traditional rival, and Japan is where Chanathip Songkrasin played for many years.

Vietnam team surprised Japan (Photo: AFC).

Regarding the above match, Chanathip Songkrasin commented: "The Vietnamese team played well, but in fact, Japan played below their ability. The Japanese team played below standard. I know many Japanese players, their ability does not stop at the level of the last match."

"The first match is always difficult. The Vietnamese team played with 100 - 150% of their capacity. This team dared to hold the ball, control the ball and played very well," Chanathip Songkrasin added.

Before playing against the Vietnamese team, the Japanese team had a friendly match with Thailand on New Year's Day 2024.

In this match, Japan won a landslide victory over Thailand 5-0. The team from the Land of the Golden Temples was almost deadlocked against the representative of Asia's number one football nation, unlike the Vietnamese team, which found a way into the Japanese goal.

Vietnamese players found their way into the Japanese goal twice (Photo: AFC).

Chanathip Songkrasin added: "I think Japan only played at 70% of their capacity in the last match. But Japan is still Japan. They did not play at their full capacity, but it was still enough to win."

"Anyway, I admire the Vietnamese team. They have a good method, a good squad structure. Each Vietnamese player is very confident at the moment," Chanathip Songkrasin added.

In addition, "Thai Messi" emphasized the detail that the better the Vietnamese team plays, the more Southeast Asian football will benefit.

The Thai football star said: "The Vietnamese team is a representative of Southeast Asian football, I admire the team from the same region. Don't forget that Thai football also hopes to perform as well as its neighbor Vietnam."

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/chanathip-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-da-tot-nhung-nhat-ban-choi-duoi-suc-20240116155401746.htm