Vietnam can hardly beat Iran in Asian futsal quarterfinal: Iran’s coach
Tuesday, May 06, 2014, 20:17 GMT+7
Hosts Vietnam can hardly beat Iran in their quarterfinal match on Wednesday at the 2014 Asian Futsal Championship, Spanish coach Jesus Candelas of the Iranian team told Tuoi Tre newspaper during an interview on Monday.
What is your assessment of the strengths of the Vietnamese team?
Coach Jesus Candelas: I think Vietnam can hardly defeat Iran because of a big gap in the quality between the two teams. However, the chance to win the game still depends on the performance of Vietnam.
The hosts have wonderful fans. I saw how they cheerfully supported their home team in Vietnam’s match with Kuwait on Sunday. It is an advantage for Vietnam to face us.
In their 1-2 loss to Iraq and 2-1 win over Kuwait last week, Vietnam staged a better performance in group coordination, speed, and flexibility. Also, the Vietnamese displayed good defense in the Kuwait match by quickly filling in the gap after losing control of the ball.
I am impressed by two Vietnamese players: Phung Trong Luan (wearing the number 7 jersey) and Ton That Phi (wearing the number 14 jersey). They can make fast attacks along the wings.
Which team will be able to challenge Iran at this tournament?
I think highly of Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Thailand beat Iran in the semifinal round of the 2012 Asian Futsal Championship.
What would be your advice for Vietnam when they target a spot in Asia’s top four and a place in the FIFA Futsal World Cup in the coming time?
The Vietnamese team has made progress. You have qualified coaches Bruno Garcia and Antonio ‘Zego’ Jesus, who are all my friends.
I think Vietnam should focus on organizing the country’s national futsal league to have more good players and on holding international friendly tournaments for players to train and gain experience.
What is the biggest difference in futsal between Spain and Asia?
It is the players’ ability to judge and process situations. Asian players are fast in dribbling the ball but not as fast as South American and Spanish players in judging and processing specific circumstances.
Futsal is a game of speed so the judging and processing capability is very important. That’s why South American futsal is leading the world.
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The Iranian national men’s futsal team ranks seventh in the world ranking table and has attended six FIFA Futsal World Cup competitions so far. Their best World Cup result was the fourth place at the 1992 edition held in Hong Kong. The Iranians have played at 12 Asian tournaments and won the championship ten times. |
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