On the evening of March 19, the Vietnamese team barely won 2-1 against Cambodia in a friendly match at Binh Duong Stadium. Coach Kim Sang-sik experimented with personnel and tactics. The continuous changes prevented the Vietnamese team from maintaining their dominant style of play against Cambodia throughout the home match.
Sharing with Tri Thuc - Znews , naturalized defender Nick Taylor of Cambodia highly appreciated the strength of the Vietnamese team. He also said that the current level gap between Vietnam and Cambodia is not big.
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Defender Nick Taylor is a notable face of the Cambodian team. |
Differences between Vietnam and Cambodia
- The match score was very close. What do you think about the performance of the Cambodian team in the last match?
- I think this is an acceptable result for Cambodia. We had a little difficulty in the first half when we let Vietnam play confidently and have space to play. In the second half, everything improved. We were proactive and always ready in many situations.
However, we still need to pay attention to ball control, not losing the ball easily. Vietnam team had many counter-attack opportunities. Overall, I will give 6.5/10 for Cambodia team.
- What is the difference between the current Vietnam and Cambodia teams?
- I really like the energy in the way Vietnam played. They kept moving and tried to exploit the gaps created. I think the difference between Cambodia and Vietnam is not as big as people think. The initiative and patience in attacking situations brought Vietnam the victory.
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Cambodia scored against Vietnam for the first time in 8 years. Photo: Duy Hieu. |
- What do you think about Cambodia's only goal?
- I think it was the result of the discussion at half-time. We needed to be more aggressive in defense and 2-3 beats faster when putting pressure on the opponent. The goal came from a moment of transition after a good pressing and of course, a very quality finish.
It was also a great moment as the scorer (Bong Samuel) was a young player making his debut tonight. It's great to celebrate special moments like that, they don't come around very often. We're delighted with Samuel's debut.
Vietnam is the strongest football team in Southeast Asia.
- You once faced Thailand with Cambodia and recently Vietnam. Which opponent is more difficult?
- The two teams are very different. I think Thailand depends a lot on the quality of their players, while Vietnam plays a cohesive team style. It is difficult to say which team is better. Currently, Vietnam is the champion of the ASEAN Cup, so in terms of skills, it can be said that Vietnam is the best team in the region.
What is your assessment of the quality of Vietnamese players?
- They are good players, very competitive and full of energy. It is very difficult for disorganized teams to cope with this group.
Thank you for this conversation.
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