Vietnam - Indonesia match is the most anticipated in the Asian Cup group stage

According to the Asian Football Confederation, due to the nature of the rivalry and the result that could affect the chances of advancing, the match between Vietnam and Indonesia on January 14 is among the most anticipated in the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup.

Vietnam is expected to repeat the achievement of reaching the knockout round like the 2019 Asian Cup, one of the achievements in the extremely successful period under coach Park Hang-seo. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) assessed that this is a great pressure for new coach Philippe Troussier. Meanwhile, Indonesia has equally high expectations when returning to the Asian Cup for the first time since 2007 - a tournament they co-hosted with Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.

"The fans of both teams are also fiercely competitive," the AFC article said. "Both sides aim for nothing other than victory."

Nguyen Tuan Anh (No. 11) was fouled by Pratama Arhan (white shirt) in the match Vietnam won Indonesia 4-0, in June 2021 in the UAE, in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup. Photo: Hieu Luong

Vietnam face Indonesia in the second match of Group D on January 19, but both sides have to overcome big challenges before that. Vietnam will face the number one title candidate Japan, who have won 10 consecutive matches and always scored four or more goals. Indonesia will play Iraq, who beat Shin Tae-yong’s army 5-1 in the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and are playing a cohesive game under Spanish coach Jesus Casas.

Japan and Iraq are the candidates to take the top two positions in Group D. Therefore, Vietnam and Indonesia must compete fiercely for the third position, to be among the four best teams to enter the round of 16.

Since 1991, Vietnam and Indonesia have met 27 times, with the results being evenly balanced at eight wins each and 11 draws. However, Vietnam have won three and drawn three of their last six matches, while Indonesia’s most recent win was in the 2-1 first leg of the 2016 AFF Cup semi-final.

Coach Tea-yong has never defeated Vietnam at the national team or U23 level, but is expected to change the situation in this meeting in Qatar. Indonesia has a talented squad including naturalized players, while Vietnam lacks many experienced quality players.

Indonesia had a more thorough preparation process when training in Türkiye from December 20 and played three friendly matches, losing to Libya 0-4, 1-2 and Iran 0-5 respectively. Meanwhile, Vietnam gathered its team from December 28, went to Qatar from January 5 and had a closed practice match losing to Kyrgyzstan 1-2.

Besides Vietnam vs Indonesia, the remaining four matches rated by AFC as the best are the opening match between host Qatar and Lebanon in Group A, Iran – UAE in Group C, Australia – Uzbekistan in Group B and Saudi Arabia – Thailand in Group F, with the participation of Euro 2020 champion coach with the Italian team Roberto Mancini.

Hieu Luong - Vnexpress.net

Source link