Japanese coach finds his feet in VN

Fresh start: The national team trains under new coach Toshiya Miura sa in Binh Duong Province. They are slated to play a friendly against Myanmar early next month. - VNS Photo Trieu Phat

HCM CITY (VNS) – Viet Nam’s Japanese coach Toshiya Miura said that he felt completely comfortable and no different when he walked out on the pitch to give instructions to players on Viet Nam’s national team yesterday morning.

Miura, who was appointed head coach of the football team nearly two months ago, began working with players at a training session as the team convened for the first time since its 3-1 victory over Hong Kong in the last match of the Asian Cup qualification, where it failed to qualify.

Before being named coach, he had not worked with any team for two years. Most of his experience is with clubs in Japan’s J-League 2.

“I feel comfortable with players and there is little difference here, except for the quality of grass,” Miura said at the end of the team’s training session.

Miura said that he was pleased with the players, calling them very focused.

“Because they are playing in the V-League, their physical condition is good, so I will mainly focus on tactical training exercises,” he said.

Midfielder Nguyen Van Quyet, who has sustained an ankle injury, and striker Nguyen Anh Duc, who is not fully fit, trained separately from the team because they are still recovering from their injuries.

The team will train at Go Dau Stadium in the southern province of Binh Duong for a week before taking on Myanmar in a friendly next Wednesday at the same venue.

Miura said he knows nothing about Myanmar football and that he would focus on how Viet Nam play against Myanmar next week, but he wants the team to play a good game against the opponent.

“With the advantage of playing at home, I want our players to play highly intensive and quickly attacking football and take more shots at goals, and not only possession,” the 51-year-old coach, said.

The match will be Miura’s first competitive debut since he took over the team from the native Hoang Van Phuc, who resigned after having poor results with both the national team in the Asian Cup qualifiers and the under-23 football team in the Southeast Asian Games. – VNS

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