Vietnam and the great song at Saitama Stadium

Based on numbers alone, many people can see only 27 shots from Japan compared to one from Vietnam, in addition to a superior possession rate of 73% and 713 passes. It is also not advisable to focus too much on the 1-1 score, even though holding Japan in an official match at home can be considered a miracle. Take a look at how the boys of Coach Park played football to see the maturity, bravery and spirit of not backing down.

The main highlight is midfielder Thanh Binh. This 22-year-old guy once experienced a haunting match against China, when he made two mistakes that led to fail 2-3 in the first leg on the neutral field in the UAE in October 2021. But he was unexpectedly started in a match where the possibility of receiving a similar disaster was very clear. Then, Thanh Binh played the full 90 minutes, directly scored the opening goal and pushed Japan into a chasing position. A stumbling block against China could ruin any young player’s career, but Thanh Binh is back in the most unbelievable way. His growth also recognizes Coach Park’s efforts to innovate in the way he uses people since his defeat in the AFF Cup 2020. To some extent, after more than four years in Vietnam, his “vision” seems to flashed the quintessence of the early days. Those are the things that bring values ​​​​that dry statistics cannot tell.

Thanh Binh opened the scoring

When a rookie like Thanh Binh plays well, it’s not too surprising that the Vietnamese defense has a performance that is considered class. Que Ngoc Hai’s precise saves to the seconds, the midfielders’ regional defense or the pressing escape situations of Hung Dung and Tuan Anh, even though they didn’t open up opportunities, were enough to relieve pressure. force for defenders.

Much of Vietnam’s campaign in the final qualifying round was always in a position to endure pressure from stronger opponents, but the composure and ability to keep the distance of the defensive line in the Japan match can be considered as big step forward. There was no panic even though they had to defend, not letting the opponent have too many balls in the penalty area, blocking the gaps in the middle so that Japan could not take advantage of the second ball. Vietnam’s only goal was an accident by goalkeeper Nguyen Manh, and it came from the only time that the Japanese midfielders were able to hit the right side of the goal. In the last 18 minutes, including six additional minutes, the homeowner could not finish any more times.

They didn’t want the game to end like that. Even after winning a ticket to Qatar, being held to a draw by Vietnam at home is not a good experience psychologically for a team with ambitions at the World Cup. Japan had slightly underestimated the opponent when putting many pillars on the bench, but they did not anticipate Vietnam’s ability to withstand pressure and when they realized it, it was too late. Despite putting the best players on the field, playing with a squad of up to eight players playing in Europe’s top leagues, coach Moriyasu Hajime’s team only scored one goal. The disappointment of many Japanese players after the match was a very real feeling.

In the first leg at My Dinh Stadium, Vietnam once ventured to experiment with a somewhat proactive way of playing, boldly attacking and causing a lot of trouble for Japan.

Therefore, the draw at Saitama is a sweet goodbye of Park’s teachers and students. Vietnam had a World Cup qualifying round with many emotions. Lowering China is the first victory over the “noisy neighbor”, and a point is also the first victory against Japan. With four points after 10 matches, it is also the best achievement in the history of Southeast Asian football’s World Cup final qualifying round. There were not too many uplifting moments for Vietnam in this fierce journey, but the “golden star warriors” also left their emotions of victory and smiles from their brave hearts.

Song Viet