Vietnam - Indonesia, Southeast Asian futsal final: Straight to the throne

The memorable journey of the Vietnamese futsal team

The Vietnamese futsal team is only one match away from its first Southeast Asian championship in history, which is the final match against Indonesia.

The 5-4 victory over Australia in the semi-finals summed up the best of the Vietnamese futsal team in this year's tournament. Coach Diego Giustozzi has a young and patchwork team in his hands, with a style of play that still has many shortcomings. The failure in the Asian futsal tournament (losing the ticket to the World Cup) has made the Argentine coach boldly rejuvenate the squad, calling up many new players to build a new framework.

Vietnam futsal team (red shirts) advances to the final

The Southeast Asian tournament was expected to be a stepping stone for Mr. Giustozzi and his team to gradually return, but perhaps few expected the players to go through such an emotional journey.

The Vietnamese futsal team has won all 5 matches, scoring 28 goals, most of which came in the second half. Coach Giustozzi's players are also the only team in this year's tournament to have 2 comebacks, both against strong opponents (Thailand and Australia). That is also an interesting feature of Vietnamese futsal. It is impossible to know how Nguyen Thinh Phat and his teammates will play, when the whole team is in a state of playing and fixing, making up for any deficiencies. But certainly, this is a team that will not back down.

The key to creating comebacks comes from the fighting spirit and steadfastness of both the old players, when Pham Duc Hoa, despite being injured, still went to the sidelines to encourage his juniors, and the new players, with Nguyen Da Hai, Vu Ngoc Anh, and Dinh Cong Vien always fighting with all their might.

Coach Giustozzi has turned difficulties into opportunities to turn the game around spectacularly. He took advantage of the transition period of the Vietnamese futsal team to create an unpredictable team, making it difficult for opponents to grasp the playing style. The competition is also very fierce, when anyone can become a pillar and no one is untouchable. Young player Da Hai, who was playing in the domestic tournament with U.20 Thai Son Bac just 2 months ago, has now become the main striker, scoring and assisting against Australia and Thailand. Pham Van Tu, who was previously a "supporting actor" for Ho Van Y, has now won an official position.

Da Hai (No. 8) becomes a mainstay

The void left by Nguyen Minh Tri before the tournament was taken over by Thinh Phat. Even though captain Duc Hoa was absent, Mr. Giustozzi still had a way to rotate the squad to win.

The Vietnamese futsal team is like a multi-faceted Rubik's cube. In the final match at 6pm today, the ability to change tactics, control the rhythm of play and fighting spirit will be the three legs of the historical tripod that Vietnamese futsal is yearning to reach: winning the Southeast Asian futsal championship for the first time.

Decoding Indonesia

The Vietnamese futsal team outperformed Indonesia in the 2009-2017 period, winning 5 out of 6 matches. Previously, Indonesian futsal was not a regional power. The only evidence is that Thailand and Vietnam are the only Southeast Asian representatives to have participated in at least 2 out of the last 3 World Cup finals. However, over the past 5 years, the archipelago team has improved. Indonesia beat Vietnam 3-1 in 2018 and drew 0-0 in 2019.

The whole team is in good spirits.

Indonesia is even stronger this year. Coach Hector Souto's team has players with great technique, speed and competition. Indonesia scored 17 goals against Australia, Myanmar and Cambodia in the group stage, before defeating Thailand 5-1 to create the biggest shock of this year's tournament.

In fact, in the semi-final match against Indonesia, Thailand did not play badly. The young stars of the Golden Temple team still created many opportunities, but their poor ability to convert opportunities into goals stopped Thailand. On the contrary, Indonesia took advantage of one-on-one disputes to win the ball and counterattack quickly. 4 out of 5 goals Indonesia scored against Thailand came from erroneous penalties. The Vietnamese futsal team needs to pay attention in the final match: they cannot repeat the dangerous ball loss situations like in the matches against Australia and Thailand, otherwise they will be punished.

The opportunity is equally divided between Vietnam and Indonesia. The team that takes advantage of it better will become the new king of Southeast Asian futsal.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/viet-nam-indonesia-chung-ket-futsal-dong-nam-a-thang-tien-den-ngoi-vuong-185241110165404561.htm