Vietnam National Team after 0-4 defeat: Instead of blaming, it's time to choose a path...

TPO - It is ridiculous to blame the 0-4 defeat of Vietnam on the reason that Malaysia became stronger thanks to naturalization. In the trend of the times and the desire to improve the quality of the team, the Malayan Tigers have chosen a path, similar to many other countries. So what about us?

Photo: Huu Pham

The Vietnam national team's streak of 7 wins and 11 unbeaten matches in all competitions has ended. The 9-year unbeaten streak, with 7/8 wins against Malaysia, has also ended. The door to the 2027 Asian Cup finals is almost closed. Everything is gloomy after the 0-4 loss at Bukit Jalil.

Many people tried to downplay the severity of the defeat by accusing Malaysia of using too many naturalized players, and mocking it as a South American team in Southeast Asian guise. This was quite humorous because Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo and Rodrigo Holgado all have Malaysian roots, similar to Cao Pendant Quang Vinh and Nguyen Filip, while Romel Morales was granted citizenship after 5 years of working and living in the land of palm oil, similar to Nguyen Xuan Son.

When Xuan Son was naturalized, we told each other that this was the trend of world football. Then everyone was happy to see the Brazilian-born striker stir up the ASEAN Cup 2024, defeating defenders easily with his strength and speed, and creating goals from nothing. So why are we complaining about Malaysia now? That they naturalize too much, and too well?

During the evening in Bukit Jalil, the Vietnamese team was completely overwhelmed by Malaysia. (Photo: Huu Pham/VFF)

To be honest, Vietnam lost simply too badly on Tuesday night in Bukit Jalil. And this was a complete failure, from the personnel to the tactics, from the preparation to the approach to the match as well as the reaction to the disadvantages encountered. Coach Kim Sang-sik's team had no answers and should feel lucky that the record of 0-6 defeats (against Zimbabwe in 1997, Oman in 2003 and South Korea in 2023) was not broken.

Ignoring the title of Southeast Asian champion, the Vietnamese team entered the match with Malaysia with caution, deploying a defensive formation of 5 defenders and without a true striker. However, falling too deep and the midfield being overwhelmed made us play very passively, hardly causing any trouble for Malaysia, while the defense fell into chaos when Thanh Chung was lost. Only the talent of Nguyen Filip could help the team keep a clean sheet after the first 45 minutes.

Remember at the ASEAN Cup, coach Kim Sang-sik's team often played poorly in the first half, then exploded with moments of finishing off opponents in the second half. The Korean strategist must have planned for such a scenario, when he tied the score at 0-0 and started to adjust personnel when entering the second half.

The pensive look of coach Kim Sang-sik, who said Malaysia played better than expected and created many difficulties for the Vietnamese team. (Photo: Huu Pham)

It was just that Malaysia had transformed, not only at a different level than themselves but also superior to the teams that coach Kim Sang-sik had faced. To make matters worse, in the second half, the problems that had appeared in the first half became even worse. The midfield could not control the ball and carelessly passed the ball, leading to the first goal. The space on the flanks of the three central defenders continued to be poorly controlled, and Xuan Manh's slip led to the next goal.

In the third goal, the central midfielders were easily bypassed, allowing the Malaysians to roam freely, then defeat the Vietnamese defenders, who completely forgot about Corbin-Ong behind them. With a dejected and resigned spirit, instead of creating a positive reaction, we conceded the final goal. 8 players in red shirts in the penalty area but all could only watch as Dion Cools rushed in, jumped high and shook his head to steer the ball into the far corner.

Vietnam also created a similar situation, when Tien Linh defeated the yellow shirt defender and headed the ball in the 78th minute. However, it was not dangerous enough. And this was also the only notable situation we created. Without Xuan Son, Vietnam lacked an important factor to develop crosses or counter-attacks, or to manage to create something special.

The Vietnam national football team left Bukit Jalil with a lot of uncertainty about the road ahead. (Photo: Huu Pham)

At this point, many people cannot help but regret the absence of Xuan Son. So is there any reason to blame Malaysia for using naturalized players?

In an open game, opportunities are available to all. If we cannot optimize naturalization resources with a detailed plan, while building an open mechanism, alongside a global network to search for, persuade and gather talents, we only have ourselves to blame.

In case the barriers cannot be overcome, it is necessary to design a different strategy, similar to the path that South Korea and Japan have taken. Uzbekistan is also a model worth learning from, when it persisted with the youth training policy, eventually creating a mine of talent that took them to the 2026 World Cup.

The 0-4 defeat was truly painful, but it was a stern reminder for Vietnamese football to change and catch up with football trends instead of blaming, justifying and laughing at the progress of opponents.

Thanh Hai

Source: https://tienphong.vn/dt-viet-nam-sau-that-bai-0-4-thay-vi-do-loi-da-den-luc-chon-mot-con-duong-post1750100.tpo