2023 Asian Cup: Vietnam's Player Election Gets A Lot Of Criticism

The Vietnam national team underwent a training camp to prepare for the 2023 Asian Cup (doc. VTC News).

JAKARTA - Vietnam has registered 26 players to appear in the 2023 Asian Cup, 12 January-10 February 2024, in Qatar.

However, Vietnam's coach, Philippe Troussier, brought 30 players to the final training camp, January 5, 2024, in Qatar.

However, the players brought by the French architect drew criticism from the Vietnamese public. Troussier didn't really care.

He considered the current players to be the best. Moreover, the storm of injuries haunts Vietnam ahead of the 2023 Asian Cup.

"I only care about the professionalism and performance of the players. What happened in the past has passed. However, the present and the future are the mysteries we look forward to."

Troussier does regularly monitor public opinion input about the team. He still thinks positively.

The architect said that the public dislike for the chosen players did not mean to put pressure on them. In fact, according to Troussier, public criticism is a separate motivation for Vietnamese players.

"The fact that many people don't support us just motivates us to be more determined and do what we want to do."

"The players understand and respond with the highest determination to fly the flag. We are very united. With solidarity between coaches and players, I believe we will get the best results," said Troussier.

One of the criticisms arose because Troussier included four U-23 players in the senior team. Their summons cannot be separated from the injury of senior players as well as important pillars, such as Nguyen Tien Linh, Que Ngoc Hai, and Nguyen Hoang Duc.

In response to this, Troussier emphasized that he did not differentiate between senior players or young players. All players have the best quality to defend the Vietnam national team, there is no primary player label or coating player.

"Every player chosen has its respective contributions depending on its role. I organize many formations, strategies, and make choices depending on the opponent and nature of the match."

"I've worked over the past eight months with a lot of players. I believe that in every case of injury there will be other people to replace him."

"The squad that left for Qatar is the most reasonable squad at the moment. I don't want people to see them as substitutes or second-class players. I think they are first-class players in Vietnam," said Troussier again.

Vietnam, which are members of Group D, will face Japan, Iraq, and the Indonesian national team in the 2023 Asian Cup. They will play their first match against Japan on January 14, 2024 local time.

Regarding the 2023 Asian Cup group stage, Troussier emphasized that he would appear proactively and limit passive play and rely on luck.

"Factors like luck and waiting for an opponent's fault are part of football, but I want the team to be more in control. For that, they have to be confident in controlling the ball."

"If they dare to be confident in playing football, when they catch up, they will not lose easily," said the Vietnam national team coach.

Before leaving for Qatar on January 4, 2024, Vietnam won the test match against Kyrgyzstan with a narrow score of 1-0 on January 1, 2024.