Vietnam ready to spring second surprise

Coach Bruno Garcia and captain Nguyen Bao Quan both shared the same view during their pre-match briefing on September 13.

“Prior to the tournament, we planned to focus on one match at a time. We are happy with the first win against Guatemala but we know for sure we should not fly too high. Next we face Paraguay and we must think about them,” Quan said.

Garcia said the win over Guatemala brought a great feeling to the whole team. All the members were excited with this historic win. The team had received a lot of congratulations from fans, but they had enjoyed enough and now had to focus on the competition.

He said his players were more confident and felt stronger ahead of the next match.

“Paraguay are a top-10 team. Colombia is their sixth time at the World Cup. They need to get points after the loss against Italy and it will be a very difficult game for us,” coach Garcia wrote in an email to Vietnam News.

“Paraguay’s high-quality players are more experienced than the Vietnamese and they are very competitive,” he said, but added that they also have weaknesses, which will be discussed in the Vietnam team during the scouting pre-match.

After spending the morning resting following the victory the previous night, the Vietnamese players were back to training in the afternoon.

Garcia discussed the upcoming match with the players for 10 minutes. They were asked to put their feeling of joy from the previous match asked and focus 100% on Paraguay.

The team members then did some special exercises to regain their strength and to avoid injuries.

Captain Quan and Xuan Du followed a special fitness routine as they sustained injuries during the Guatemala match.

Writing to Vietnam News, Garcia said, “Quan and Du have injuries and we are worried about their recovery. The doctors are working hard to help them both recover, but we will wait until the start of the game to make a decision."

“(In the upcoming match) we can make some improvements, but we need to continue step by step and believe in ourselves because we are following the right path,” he added.

Garcia said his team needed at least one point from the Paraguay match to make sure Vietnam are one of the four best third-placed teams after the group round to qualify for the next stage.

The Spaniard also reconfirmed with the international media that Vietnam’s win was not due to luck, but a result of the hard work and effort put into training and careful preparations over a long term.