Indonesian newspaper: ‘It is not surprising that Vietnam draws with the Philippines’

In the opening match on May 6, Vietnam dominated, launched 18 shots and scored three goals against Indonesia. Coach Park Hang-seo’s army therefore has high expectations when confronting the Philippines. In the history of confrontation, Vietnam only drew once with the Philippines in 1991, the rest won all the last four matches in the SEA Games.

But, on the Viet Tri field, the Philippines played to death, defended the majority and worked hard to keep Vietnam at a standstill for 90 minutes. According to journalist Sasongko – the author of the above article Bolasports, this result actually did not surprise Asian football followers like him. “The reason is that the Philippines played exactly the same way Indonesia did when holding Vietnam 0-0 in the group stage of the AFF Cup 2020,” Sasongko wrote.

Vietnam attended the AFF Cup 2020 as the defending champion, and entered the match against Indonesia after convincingly winning Malaysia 3-0. But Park Hang-seo’s teachers and students were affected draw 0-0then only finished second in Group B and met Thailand in the semi-finals.

“Indonesia’s 0-0 draw against Vietnam at the AFF Cup exposed the weaknesses of Park Hang-seoo’s teachers and students,” Sasongko added. “Vietnam had dominated Southeast Asian football for the previous five years, but the draw with Indonesia started their downfall. The key for Thailand and Indonesia to stop Vietnam in the AFF Cup was defensive counter-attack.”

The author of this article also pointed out that the Philippines succeeded in preventing Vietnam from scoring by imitating the 5-4-1 formation that Indonesia used at the AFF Cup. However, due to using too many defensive players, Indonesia and the Philippines could not counter-attack quickly when they won the ball. The whole match yesterday, the Philippines only had three situations to finish.

On page ESPNThe famous Asian writer Gabriel Tan said that Vietnam was held to a draw because the Philippine defense played firmly. “As expected, Vietnam proved to be more dangerous, but could not overcome the opponent’s solid defense. The Philippines also needs to thank goalkeeper Quincy Kammeraad with a series of quality saves.”

With four points and a difference of +3, Vietnam is still certain to continue, if they beat Myanmar and Timor Leste in the remaining two matches. Due to the five-team group, Park Hang-seo’s teachers and students will be off for the third match on May 10. The team will meet Myanmar in the match on May 13, also at Viet Tri Stadium, Phu Tho.

Hoang An