Coach Park defended the decision to shuffle the squad against Singapore
"This match, we only drew, but the team still has one more match and will decide to win Myanmar," said the Vietnam coach after the match in the fourth round of Group B.
Compared to when he won 3-0 against Malaysia on December 27, Coach Park today changed to 8 main kick positions, only keeping goalkeeper Dang Van Lam, central defender Que Ngoc Hai and captain midfielder Do Hung Dung. In the second half, Phan Van Duc, Nguyen Quang Hai, Nguyen Hoang Duc, Nguyen Tien Linh and Ho Tan Tai were brought into the field.
The failure to use the strongest squad made the Vietnamese team, despite its superiority, facing difficulties in front of the majority defense of Singapore. Statistics after the game showed that Park's army held the ball 76.8%, finished 19 shots, including three goals, while the opponent only finished three shots, with one on target. The ball almost rolled on the side of Singapore's field in the second half, but the Vietnamese team was still powerless to score.
However, Coach Park still defended the decision on personnel. "This game I changed, rotated a few positions, but it's not the first time I messed up like this? The team has 23 players, and we don't know who will be injured or will have any problems. They are all As a national player, he must be ready to play anywhere at all times, and must always determine what to do in every situation," he argued.
Draw 0-0 at Singapore stadium, Vietnam team still tops Group B with 7 points but can't win tickets early to the semi-finals. In the last match of the group stage, Mr. Park's teachers and students will take on Myanmar - the team that has been eliminated - at My Dinh on January 3.
The result circuit - win, win, draw - through 3 matches played in this year's tournament recalls the journey of the Vietnamese team at the AFF Cup 2020. At that time, Mr. Park's teachers and students defeated Laos 2-0, Malaysia 3- respectively. 0, drew Indonesia 0-0 and then beat Cambodia 4-0 in the last round to enter the semi-finals, where the team was eliminated because they lost 0-2 to Thailand after two matches. However, Coach Park is not worried about the risk of going down the road. He said: "People don't need to worry about that. Now that the third match is over, back to Hanoi, we will continue to count for the last match against Myanmar."
Jalan Besar Stadium is an artificial turf field, unfamiliar to many Vietnamese players. However, Coach Park is not sure whether the ground or the pressure to play away makes his players have some handling movements that are not really smooth.
