Vietnam futsal team: Deciding to compete for gold at SEA Games 31 despite many players infected with Covid-19

The press conference before the start of the 31st SEA Games men’s futsal was held in Ha Nam with the participation of 5 teams including hosts Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia. Men’s futsal is played in a round-robin format with 1 turn, the team with the highest score will get the gold medal at the 31st SEA Games.

Answering in the press conference, head coach Pham Minh Giang said, the team’s goal at SEA Games 31: “The gold medal is the goal of the whole team. Thailand is a strong team, Indonesia and Malaysia have investment and development. But we are playing at home, the players have good preparation and spirit.”

“In the Southeast Asian futsal tournament, the physical strength and finishing was not good. The training trip in Thailand with 2 wins and 1 draw. These 2 weaknesses have been improved. Also in the last gathering, the team was defeated. infected with Covid-19 more than half of the squad, this time with Nguyen Tien Thanh and Tu Minh Quang with the combination of young players, we will have a new and different step,” Vietnam futsal head coach shared.

Coach Pham Minh Giang is the first domestic leader of Vietnamese futsal at the SEA Games. However, he said the goal of winning the gold medal is not pressure but a destination, although this is a very difficult goal. Of course, the teams are very strong, even Malaysia is heavily invested, Indonesia and Thailand have affirmed their strength.

When asked about the possibility of being caught by the opponent, Mr. Giang said: “After the AFF Cup, our finishing ability was very poor, we practiced finishing a lot and improved more. I have 2 pivos. are Minh Tri and Thanh Phat, Tuan Thanh is new and right-footed. There will be disturbances and opponents will be surprised. If Minh Tri is in good form, even if he is caught, he will still have a boom.” .

“The floor at the World Cup is wooden, so the ball goes really fast, the players have to work more. The speed of the ball on the SEA Games floor will slow down, but we’re used to it. At the AFF Cup we didn’t even get to practice. Getting used to the field should not be a problem,” the captain of the Vietnam futsal team explained.

Commenting on the first opponent at the tournament, Mr. Giang said: “Indonesia has a quality and uniform cast of players who play hard. But through the AFF Cup, we have a lot of data and videos about this opponent. We want to overcome our weaknesses and overcome their strengths.”

Captain Van Vu sent a message to the juniors: “After the Southeast Asia tournament was not as expected, I talked with Duc Hoa and Khong Dinh Hung. After that, the whole team almost completely changed. During the last rally, I just want to tell you that you need to focus on the warm-up, focus more on the competition, victory will come to you.”

The Vietnamese futsal team will have a practice match before the opening day of the tournament at 4pm this afternoon at Ha Nam High School. Tomorrow (May 11), Vietnamese futsal will face Indonesian futsal at 4pm at Ha Nam Stadium, before that is the match between Malaysia and Thailand futsal at 1pm.