Facing the lens of domestic media, Vietnamese soccer star Nguyen Chinh Linh was frank and honest, saying that our team's performance has been up and down, and that he had witnessed the lack of tactical intelligence of our defenders despite their stature in the encounter with our U22 national team.
Despite losing to the country in all six matchups, Nguyen Chin Ling helped Vietnam's U22 national team beat the country's U22 national team, then coached by Dutch star Hiddink, 2-0 in a warm-up match in Wuhan on September 8, 2019, thanks to a goal in the first half and one in the second half, according to Vietnamese media. In addition, Nguyen Chin Ling contributed five goals for Vietnam in the World Qualifying 40, equaling his predecessor Nguyen Hong Son and setting a record for goals scored by a Vietnamese player in a qualifying match.
Nguyen Thinh Linh admitted that Vietnam is lucky to be in Group B, where the competition is relatively weak. Talking about our team, he said bluntly: "Our team's performance is very unstable and we need to know more about them. I remember in the match against our U22s two years ago, their defenders were big but lacked intelligence. In contrast, Vietnamese players are more skillful."
"That victory is a good memory. Before the match, we thought we could not beat our team, but when the match started, we noticed that all their players looked a bit flustered when they received the ball, which made us realize that our opponents were not strong. As a result, we played the game with confidence and eventually won. But that was just the U22 national team's performance, the adult national team's performance could be completely different, and the fact that they qualified for the Top 12 proves it. So, my teammates and I have to prepare well, we can't just prepare for the game based on the result of that warm-up match."
