Despite getting the win over a tough Indonesia side, Vietnam coach Park Hang-seo admitted he wasn’t impressed.
The Korea Republic coach put the blame on himself as the Vietnamese side were unable to put away their rivals early, and needed a late goal in injury time to see off Indonesia 1-0.
Speaking to reports, he said: “Today, we were lucky. We got the win but, as a manager, I was not really satisfied with the play.
“I think there are two reasons: the first was teamwork was not displayed and cooperation among the players was lacking – mainly playing individual football.
“Second, no matter how tough the game is, players need to maintain focus on their roles on attack and defence. At the moment, the players are still missing something and overall this match showed we are not well-prepared for the tournament.”
Vietnam’s struggles were evident as Indonesia’s play style made it difficult for them to find holes to attack, and the Vietnam coach even made a tactical change in the first half, taking out Truong Van Thai Quy and bringing in Tran Thanh Binh. However, the difficulties resulted in the latter being changed later on in the game as well.
Park admitted that the fault is on him, saying: “I’ve had the same situation before and it’s not a good thing. He was not changed because of an injury but because it did not translate well on the pitch. The responsibility of that completely falls on the coach.
However, at the end, Trieu Viet Hung’s goal lifted the Golden Dragons who have six points in two matches.
Other people also questioned whether Park had any issues with Indonesia coach Indra Sjafri. Many noticed that, after the match, the two shook hands but Park left with a rather disappointed look.
The Koren Republic man denied this, saying: “There is nothing between us. Everyone saw that we shook hands. In fact, he continued to congratulate Vietnam in the tunnel. I went to the tunnel early because I am not happy, I am not happy with myself and the play style of the team today.”
Photo courtesy of VNExpress