The Japanese coach of Vietnam, Toshiya Miura, has said he is looking forward to taking revenge on Thailand in their second leg in Hanoi on October 13 after losing 0-1 in their opener in the 2018 World Cup Asian qualifiers in Bangkok on Sunday.
Experts said that it was a complete loss of Vietnam to their archrivals Thailand in terms of both tactics, the way of playing, and individual skills.
Facing the disadvantage of an away game, the Vietnamese players resorted to tough play and it resulted in a red card – the second yellow card after the first one in the 49th minute to be exact – for defender Nguyen Minh Chau in the 72nd minute.
In the 80th minute, the Thais opened the scoring after Pokklaw A-Nan entered the Vietnamese box and blasted a shot from 16 meters.
During the match, Vietnam created only two chances to challenge Thai keeper Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool but they were just the random shots by goalkeeper To Vinh Loi to striker Le Cong Vinh in the front line.
However, the Thai keeper overcame all the challenges to keep his net clean.
Vietnamese striker Vinh had to play low for both seeking the ball and supporting the defensive wall. However, he made many wrong passes to his teammates.
Speaking to the media after the clash, coach Miura admitted, “My players made their best efforts during the match and I am pleased with their competition spirit.
“The Vietnamese players played well during the first 60 minutes.
“But the red card in the 72nd minute brought more troubles to our defense and the only goal for Thailand came just minutes after that.”
Miura also added that Vietnam target to play at the 2019 Asian Cup, not the 2018 World Cup, so this opening loss is not a disaster.
“I hope Vietnam will find a win to take revenge on Thailand in the second leg in Hanoi,” Miura declared.
Vietnam are in Group F with Thailand, Iraq, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
The Vietnamese and the Thais played their game earlier than other qualifiers as several players from both sides are due to play in the Southeast Asian Games in Singapore next month.
The qualifiers for 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup
The 2018 World Cup Asian qualifiers include four rounds.
The first round is for 12 bottom-ranked national teams, ranking from 35th to 46th in Asia. Six winners will advance to the second round.
Vietnam rank 19th in Asia and only started their World Cup campaign from the second round, from May 24, 2015 to March 29, 2016.
Forty teams joining the second round are divided into eight groups of five to play home and away round robin matches.
Eight group winners and four best second-placed teams will be qualified for the third round.
Those 12 teams are then pooled into two groups of six in the third round.
Two top teams from each group will win direct tickets to play the finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Two third-placed teams may compete with other rivals from other continents in play-offs for the last tickets to the World Cup finals.
And those teams eliminated from the second round will go on to play the qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
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