Identifying the main opponents at the AFF Cup
At the AFF Cup 2024, the Vietnamese team will be in the same group with Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Laos. Of these, Indonesia and the Philippines are considered the main opponents of the Vietnamese team in the group stage.
To prepare for the matches against Indonesia (December 15) and the Philippines (December 18), coach Kim Sang-sik will attend the matches of these teams during the FIFA Days in November. Specifically, Indonesia will have two matches against Japan on November 15 and against Saudi Arabia on November 19, both of which will take place in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the Philippines will have a match against Hong Kong (China) on November 14 in Hong Kong, then they will meet Sri Lanka on November 19 in Manila (Philippines).
Indonesia will be the main opponent of Vietnam in AFF Cup 2024
Coach Kim Sang-sik will closely monitor the matches of the Indonesian team.
Indonesia's matches in the World Cup qualifiers are not only of special interest to coach Kim Sang-sik, but also to Vietnamese football fans. The reason is that Indonesia has defeated the Vietnamese team 3 times since the beginning of the year, including 1 time at the Asian Cup and 2 times in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia.
Indonesia is also considered the strongest team in Southeast Asia, even stronger than Thailand. The team from the archipelago country has a team of tall, naturalized European players with better technical skills than Southeast Asian players.
Learn from your competitors
Mr. Kim Sang-sik will try to observe how the Japanese and Saudi Arabian teams face Indonesia, from there finding common points leading to the goal of the archipelago team. Among them, the Japanese team has a similar physique to the Vietnamese players, and has a similar playing style, which is a team of players who are not too tall, play with a technical focus, and prefer small group coordination.
Of course, in terms of the level of the two football teams, the level of Japanese football is much higher than that of Vietnam. But in terms of the way of approaching the Indonesian goal, Mr. Kim Sang-sik can observe how the Japanese put pressure on Indonesia, and then try to let the Vietnamese team learn from it.
That was about the attacking method against Indonesia. On the other hand, Mr. Kim also tried to monitor how Indonesia exploited set pieces and took advantage of aerial battles when facing Japan and Saudi Arabia, before drawing lessons for the Vietnamese team.
The Vietnamese team has had poor results in recent matches against Indonesia.
In the matches that Vietnam lost to Indonesia at the Asian Cup and the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year, Vietnam conceded goals from set pieces in every match (1 penalty kick that Indonesia scored in the Asian Cup, 1 throw-in that led to a goal, and 1 corner kick that led to a header in the World Cup qualifiers). Therefore, Mr. Kim Sang-sik must pay special attention to the home team's set piece defensive situations, especially paying attention to the aerial ability of Indonesia's European-born players.
“Know yourself, know your enemy” is the motto that VFF and coach Kim Sang-sik are aiming for the journey of the Vietnamese team at the AFF Cup. Indonesia is indeed superior to us in terms of strength at the moment, but that advantage is not so high that the Vietnamese team cannot defeat them. At the same time, no team is without weaknesses, the important thing is whether we can find those weaknesses or not?!
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-kim-sang-sik-trinh-sat-doi-tuyen-indonesia-tim-diem-yeu-cua-doi-thu-185241112130423942.htm
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