Mr. Troussier is using young players with the hope that the Vietnamese team will progress further.
Coach Philippe Troussier started his reign with the Vietnamese team with 3 wins without conceding any goals, against average or lower-level opponents such as Hong Kong, Syria, and Palestine.
However, immediately after that, the Vietnamese team (ranked 95) was exposed to high-dose tests, with opponents far above them on the FIFA rankings, namely China (ranked 80), Uzbekistan (75) and especially the giant South Korea (26).
As a result, Mr. Troussier and his team received completely opposite results with 3 consecutive losses, conceding 10 goals without scoring any. In fact, in the loss to Uzbekistan, we didn't even have a single shot.
It is understandable that this has raised concerns from fans and a part of public opinion because in just 1 month, the Vietnamese team will officially enter the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
One thing is certain, the target of passing the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup is mandatory for the Vietnamese team and for Mr. Troussier himself, despite the fact that the opponents are stronger.
It is a risky journey, where we will have to play away against the Philippines (November 16), before returning home to welcome the big Iraq (ranked 69th in the world, November 21), not to mention the opponent Indonesia (continuing to add naturalization) who is on a very strong momentum after the 32nd SEA Games gold medal.
But looking back, it can be seen that Mr. Troussier is making long-term calculations when entering the FIFA Days in October with the Vietnamese team not having the strongest force, with up to 40% being new or very young players.
We can name players Van Khang, Dinh Bac, Van Cuong, Thai Son, Van Luan, Minh Trong, Tien Anh, Dinh Trieu, Tuan Duong, Van Luan...
Duy Manh blocked the shot of the Korean player
Obviously, the "White Witch" is very persistent in his youth policy along with his playing style revolution in the Vietnam team, when temporarily putting aside familiar names such as Van Hau, Tan Tai, Thanh Chung, Van Thanh, Van Toan, Nguyen Manh...
With a vision for the 2026 World Cup or even the 2030 World Cup, Mr. Troussier, with a screening list of up to 100 people "from 18 to 27 years old", wants to create a long-term foundation for succession, especially when the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup will take place until June 2024. If we make it to the final qualifying round, it could last until the end of 2025, early 2026.
That is the time when players who are only 19-20 years old like Van Khang, Van Cuong, Thai Son, Dinh Bac... will reach 22, 23 years old while Tuan Tai, Van Tung, Minh Trong... will be more mature when they reach the age of 24-25.
Khuat Van Khang's free kick hit the post.
But certainly, in his role as "captain", Mr. Troussier will have to balance the long-term revolution with specific achievements, first of all, passing the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, if he wants to have profound and fundamental changes.
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