Vietnamese football coach Henrique Calisto told Tuoi Tre the team are not at their physical peak for the AFF Suzuki Cup that kicks off December 1.
“The recipe for a team to succeed includes three things – unity, quality, and motivation,” the Portuguese-born coach said ahead of the Southeast Asian Football Championship to be held in Vietnam and Indonesia until December 29.
Vietnam are now behind Thailand and Singapore in terms of these criteria, he said.
He pointed to the Asian Games in Guangzhou this month, saying the Vietnamese, except for goalie Tan Truong and striker Anh Duc, were smaller than the smallest player in the Iranian team who were themselves only average-sized for Asia.
Vietnam were eliminated in the group stage at the competition.
Nevertheless, Vietnam have not chosen any of their four naturalized foreign players while Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines have been doing so for a long time.
The non-selection of the foreign players, who are physically superior to the Vietnamese, is a weakness, Calisto said.
Among other problems for the team is the poor surface at Hanoi’s My Dinh national stadium where they will play in group B, he said. Since Vietnam play a short passing game, they will find the bumpy surface unsuitable, he explained.
Singapore, who traditionally play long balls, will benefit, he added.
As of today, tuoitrenews will cover up-to-date information about the AFF Suzuki Cup, available here
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