Laos - Vietnam: Cup hunting campaign begins
*Laos - Vietnam: 19:30 Wednesday, December 21, on MetaSports.
In the history of confrontation, Laos has never won against Vietnam, even lost and only scored one goal in the last 10 matches. However, not so that Coach Park is subjective. He said that the opening match is always risky, because the players may not be in shape and the opponent has not revealed their cards. He even took the fact that Argentina suddenly lost to Saudi Arabia in the opening match of the World Cup 2022 to warn Vietnamese players.
Lao football has also improved over the years, shown by the fact that Vietnam cannot win the "destructive" scores as before. At the AFF Cup 2020, Coach Park's army faced many difficulties, even nearly being conceded by Billy Ketkeophimphone, before winning 2-0 thanks to Nguyen Cong Phuong and Phan Van Duc. This meager result made Vietnam inferior in difference to Indonesia at the end of the group stage, leading to facing Thailand, instead of Singapore in the semi-finals. There, the team lost 0-2 and was dethroned.
In the two AFF Cups led by Coach Park, Vietnam won two victories against Laos. In which, Cong Phuong scored in both matches, but this year he was not present. HAGL's striker actively asked Coach Park not to join the team because the newly signed club in Japan refused to let go. Striker Nguyen Anh Duc is still present in Laos this year but as an assistant coach because he has retired from his playing career. The only scorer remaining is Phan Van Duc - who just arrived in Vienna two days before the match due to Covid-19 infection.
Van Duc has just recovered, so it is likely that Coach Park has not been in a hurry to use it in the starting lineup. Nguyen Van Quyet, Nguyen Van Toan or Pham Tuan Hai can take on two sides to support Nguyen Tien Linh. Do Hung Dung and Nguyen Tuan Anh will manage the midfield area for Nguyen Quang Hai to attack.
In front of the majority defense of Laos, attacking the border will help Vietnam stretch more space. Compared to the AFF Cup 2020, the team has the return of Doan Van Hau, making the lines on the left wing more dangerous. On the right, it is likely that Ho Tan Tai will be selected. This player is not as defensive as Vu Van Thanh, but his attack ability is better. In particular, both of the team's full-backs are capable of scoring, even with superb long-range shots.
Vietnam now has only one absence, midfielder Bui Tien Dung. He did not go to Vientiane due to Covid-19 infection but was still kept by Coach Park in the list of registrations submitted to AFF yesterday 20/12, because this is the registration for the whole tournament. The absence of Tien Dung today will not greatly affect the strength of Vietnam when there are still many quality options for the central defender position such as Que Ngoc Hai, Nguyen Thanh Chung, Do Duy Manh or Bui Hoang Viet. Brother.
Vietnam's defense will have to keep an eye on Billy Ketkeophimphone, a player born in France and played for many clubs here before accepting the invitation to play for the Laos team in 2021. Technically good, but his performance is a question mark, at the age of 32, he did not play much in the colors of the Malaysian club Sri Pahang in 2022.
At the previous AFF Cup, Laos often dribbled the ball towards Billy's position. This way of playing did not promote much effectiveness when he was closely followed by Vietnamese central defenders, the whole match had only one chance but missed. However, under coach Michael Weiss, Laos' style of play will change because the German leader has a penchant for controlling the ball and coordinating short to organize attacks. That is what coach Weiss wants, but against a more qualified opponent, whether Laos can implement that style of play is a big problem.
"At the 2018 AFF Cup, Vietnam also played the opening match against Laos and then won the title. In this year's AFF Cup, the whole team hopes to replicate that achievement," captain Do Hung Dung shared on the eve of the AFF Cup. Coach Park's last tournament.
