Vietnam Futsal team on the second World Cup debut

The draw zero to nil against Lebanon team last May 23 left Vietnam Futsal team with a chance of 2^nd show up at the final round of World Cup if the squad of Coach Pham Minh Giang is able to make either a draw or a win in the home match at 22:00 on May 25.

Will Vietnam Futsal team make it the second show up in World Cup?

In the match that ended in the evening of May 23, Lebanon team, despite having never been on the World Cup playground, showed fearsome strength under the guidance of the former coach of the world's top futsal team Spain. With their outstanding physique, the Lebanese players chose to play in control to "take advantage" and actively hold the ball from the home field, rising slowly to suddenly launch cross-field passes to get nearer to the goal of goalkeeper Ho Van Y. However, the excellence of the Vietnamese goalkeeper with blocking situations certainly made the opponent's shots fail to become goals.

The confrontation with an opponent currently ranked 4th higher than Vietnam Futsal team on the FIFA rankings (40-44) has prompted coach Pham Minh Giang actively to get his squad into a defensive-counter-attack game. Despite staying somewhat inferior, the ‘boys in red’ got equally dangerous shots on the opponent's goal. The shots of Bao Nam, Minh Tri or Van Hieu, if a little more precise, could completely be goals. The match was counted as Vietnam's "home match" even though the two teams were playing in the UAE. Therefore, the opponent wants to push up the squad to find goals. However, the certainty of the defense with the excellence of goalkeeper Ho Van Y have made Lebanon's shots meaningless.

Thus, the draw against the opponent in the match counted as home match has helped coach Pham Minh Giang and his squad temporarily hold the advantage in the second leg match where, just win a draw with a goal against the opponent who has participated in the Asian Futsal Finals for 10 consecutive years, Vietnam Futsal team will have a second appearance at the 2021 Futsal World Cup finals. Vietnam's indoor football used be at World Cup 5 years ago when the team overcame Japan in a series of 6-m shots.

Hopefully, the impressive achievements in the past and the determination in play as shown in the first leg, coach Pham Minh Giang would make another historical story for the national futsal team.

Reported by Hung Cuong – Translated by Vi Bao