Vietnam national team focuses on training in Qatar
One of the issues that coach Troussier wants to improve in the Vietnam national team is to improve “endurance” to be able to play at high intensity for 90 minutes with top teams on the continent such as Japan and Iraq in the tournament. The 2024 Asian Cup finals will kick off in mid-January.
In fact, after the painful 0-1 loss to Iraq in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup at My Dinh Stadium, Coach Troussier admitted that the Vietnam National Team could only meet the requirements for about 60-70 minutes. In addition, My Dinh’s field surface was quite bad, causing his students to have many difficulties in implementing their established ball control style of play.
Coming to Qatar, the field conditions are something that the Vietnamese team does not have to worry about as the fields all ensure international standards with extremely high quality after successfully organizing the 2022 World Cup.
According to information from VFF, in the first training session in Qatar at 6:30 p.m. last night (ie 10:30 p.m. last night Vietnam time), Tuan Anh, Tuan Hai, Duy Manh… and their teammates experienced Experience the Al Rayyan 2 pitch.
This is a field in the system of training fields chosen by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for teams participating in the 2023 Asian Cup finals and previously also used by FIFA for teams participating in the World Cup. 2022, so very high quality.
The Vietnamese team trains with high intensity on the Al Rayyan 2 field that meets World Cup standards. Photo: VFF
The field surface is flat, the grass is green and smooth like a carpet, and the weather in Qatar in the evening has an average temperature of about 18 degrees Celsius, a cold but not uncomfortable feeling that helps Vietnamese players stay excited throughout the training session.
Coach Troussier decided to increase the amount of exercise to release inertia for his students. In addition, he continues to practice proactive ball deployment and increase the ability to bond between the lines.
Clearly feeling the “heat” as the 2024 Asian Cup is very close, the players are all highly focused, trying to best implement coach Troussier’s lesson plan.
Coach Troussier asked his students to concentrate as much as possible in preparing to compete with leading Asian opponents such as Japan and Iraq at the 2024 Asian Cup finals. Photo: VFF
The French coach also emphasized that the Asian Cup arena is very different from other tournaments in Southeast Asia. The opponents are all top teams on the continent, so each player is required to try and put in more effort, especially to trust each other, believe in the preparation of the Vietnam national team and work together. together form a unified block.
Around the preparation process of the Vietnamese national team in Qatar, before starting last night’s training session, the players went through two physical strengthening sessions at the hotel gym, and basically had a workout. Necessary adjustments in circadian rhythm due to time zone difference.
According to the plan, this morning (January 7), AFC will have a meeting with the team around content related to the tournament regulations and check training and competition equipment according to regulations.
In the afternoon, the players will participate in AFC’s recording and photography activities to serve the promotion of the 2023 Asian Cup finals. Coach Philippe Troussier and his team will return to the training field in the evening of the same day.