Russian newspaper makes surprising assessment of Vietnam team

(Dan Tri) - Sovietsky Sport newspaper emphasized that the Russian team did not come to Vietnam for tourism. Instead, they highly appreciated the two opponents, the Vietnamese and Thai teams.

Recently, former player Aleksandr Mostovoi said that the upcoming matches against Vietnam and Thailand do not have much meaning for the Russian team because the quality of the opponents is not high.

Russian newspaper reminds home team to be cautious before match against Vietnam team (Photo: Sohu).

The former Celta Vigo and Benfica midfielder believes that Russia will not benefit from facing teams outside the top 100 of the FIFA rankings. He used the word "laughable" to describe his team's matches against Vietnam and Thailand. However, Sovietsky Sport has a completely opposite opinion. They are cautious when assessing the two upcoming opponents of the Russian team. The newspaper wrote: "Thailand and Vietnam have long been favorite vacation destinations for Russian tourists. These countries have beautiful beaches, white sand, warm sunshine and the hospitality of local people. That is why these places have become popular vacation destinations in the world. However, for the Russian team, the upcoming trip to Vietnam is not a relaxing trip on the beach. There, the Russian team will compete with the Vietnamese team on September 5 and meet Thailand on September 7. It was thought that it would be a vacation trip to Vietnam, but coach Valery Karpin and his team did not have time to rest. They went through a busy schedule and difficult matches. That did not allow them to relax.

The Russian team possesses superior strength compared to the two representatives of Southeast Asia (Photo: Getty).

On the FIFA rankings, the Vietnamese team is ranked 115th, Thailand is ranked 101st. The Russian team is ranked 33rd in the world. Obviously, the difference in ranking between Russia and the two Southeast Asian teams is significant, but coach Karpin's team should not underestimate them. Evaluating the Vietnamese team, Sovietsky Sport wrote: "The Vietnamese team is going through a difficult time. They lost 8/9 of their most recent matches, against opponents such as Indonesia, Iraq, Japan and Kyrgyzstan. In this series, they only won against the Philippines. That makes this team no longer have a chance to participate in the 2026 World Cup". The Russian newspaper also assessed Thailand: "Like the Vietnamese team, Thailand also cannot win a ticket to the 2026 World Cup, despite having drawn with South Korea, China and defeated Singapore". Finally, Sovietsky Sport concluded: "Despite logistical difficulties and a busy match schedule, the Russian team is still determined to win. Hopefully the matches in Vietnam will end with success for the White Birch team".

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-nga-danh-gia-bat-ngo-ve-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-20240818122703706.htm