Nepal coach determined to beat Vietnam team, not concerned about Malaysia

Before the match between Vietnam and Nepal at Go Dau Stadium (HCMC) at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow (October 9), Nepal coach Matthew Ross said: "I don't want to compare Vietnam and Malaysia, nor do I want to talk much about Malaysia at this time, nor do I want to talk about the problems that Malaysian football is facing with FIFA and AFC."

“As for the Vietnam team, this is a very strong team. The Vietnam team in this training session has called up many young players. The Vietnamese players have good technique, good ball control, and are also very fast. The Vietnam team is an attacking team,” added Nepal coach Matthew Ross.

HLV Nepal quyết tâm thắng đội tuyển Việt Nam, không quan tâm đến Malaysia - 1 — Coach Matthew Ross of the Nepal team (Photo: DA).

Despite facing a stronger team, coach Matthew Ross believes that Nepal can still stand firm against the host team Vietnam.

Mr. Matthew Ross commented: “In tomorrow’s match, I know the Vietnamese team will put a lot of pressure on our field. Therefore, we will play defensive counter-attack in this match.”

“It is important for Nepal to stand firm in the early stages of the match. After that, we will look to counter-attack and make things difficult for Vietnam.

We want to get points in tomorrow's match, first of all we are aiming to get one point, even three points," the Australian coach who is leading the Nepal team suddenly said.

Unlike Vietnam's professional football, where Vietnamese players compete weekly in domestic tournaments, Nepal's football is not as well developed.

HLV Nepal quyết tâm thắng đội tuyển Việt Nam, không quan tâm đến Malaysia - 2 — Coach Matthew Ross revealed that half of the Nepal squad has not been able to play weekly in recent times (Photo: DA).

Coach Matthew Ross frankly pointed out the problems that the Nepalese team is facing at the moment: “About half of our squad are players who do not have a club to play for every week. Other players are playing for clubs in Bangladesh, the Philippines, Male, which are not strong football countries.”

“In the past few months, we have not been able to gather and play together often. The Nepal team had one match in June (against Laos in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers), then the team did not gather in July and August.

In September, we only have one more friendly match with Bangladesh, before entering the next two matches against Vietnam. That is our problem. My players are still quite young, I will try to let them play in the next two matches. I believe they will be determined when they play," added coach Matthew Ross.

It is worth noting that Coach Matthew Ross worked in Korea from 2019 to 2023, as an assistant coach of the Korean women's team. This was also the time when Coach Kim Sang Sik was still in the country.

Coach Matthew Ross himself shared an interesting story about this: “Honestly, during my time in Korea, I did not know Mr. Kim Sang Sik. However, I know a little Korean, when Mr. Kim discusses tactics with his assistants tomorrow, I can come close to listen (laughs)”.