The 7-0 victory of the Vietnamese national U-23 football team over Brunei yesterday at the 27th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar didn’t mean too much, since the team is soon to face three stronger rivals.

Coach Hoang Van Phuc of Vietnam said the big win didn’t mean anything important, although it gives Vietnam an advantage in the race with Singapore, Malaysia, and Laos, all of group A, to earn one of two tickets to advance to the semifinals.

It’s clear that Brunei is weaker than Vietnam, he said.

“Vietnam didn’t play well in the first 15-20 minutes of the match because of the psychological burden of their ‘must win’ mentality. However, I’m satisfied with the way my players carried out their strategic team formation on the field,” Phuc said after the match. “Our job ahead is harder.”

“The other thing is that Vietnam doesn’t depend on one star because many players can score. Six Vietnamese players scored the seven goals in the game,” he added.

Coach Kwon Oh-Soon of Brunei admitted that, “Vietnam and Brunei are at different levels. On top of that, my players didn’t play the game well. And that’s why we lost 7-0.”

Worries

Vietnamese footballers gave a slow performance, without well-connected cooperation between the lines, according to Nguyen Huu Dang, a former Vietnamese international footballer.

All seven goals were the result of mistakes by the rival team and individual talents, rather than a team effort.

When Brunei had one or two in the attacking line, Vietnam still deployed a thick defense and as a result, they didn’t have enough players to pierce the rival back line, said Dang.

Some hoped that it was Vietnam’s ‘secret’ way to score a victory and prepare new tactics for future games.

In group A’s other match yesterday, the ten footballers of Laos held Singapore to a 1-1 draw.

Coach Ong Kim Swee of Malaysia, who watched the Vietnam-Brunei match, had a [diplomatic] comment that Vietnam is qualified to enter the semifinals and the final game if they continue to play that way.

Van Quyet (R) of Vietnam is fighting for the ball (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Mac Hong Quan (L) of Vietnam (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Ha Minh Tuan (no. 18 of Vietnam (Photo: Tuoi Tre)