VietNamNet Bridge – The Viet Nam football team will face strong competition from Thailand, North Korea and Uzbekistan at the International T&T Cup kicking off in Ha Noi on October 28.

I need 110 per cent: Henrique Calisto (centre) gives instruction to national team players during a training session in Gia Lai Province. Viet Nam compete in the International T&T Cup in Ha Noi before leaving for the ASEAN Championship.

The 25-member team is underdogs at the tournament, a friendly in preparation for the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup, hosted by Thailand and Indonesia in December.

Viet Nam have not tasted victory for six matches under Portuguese coach Henrique Calisto.

At the HCM City International Football Tournament-SJC Eximbank Cup last week, Viet Nam lost three straight games to Myanmar, a student team from South Korea and Turkmenistan.

Viet Nam face a height disadvantage against most teams, as two thirds of the squad are under 1.7m tall, creating difficulties for Vietnamese players in getting above the ball.

The tallest players in the squad are Brazilian-born goalkeeper Fabio Dos Santos at 1.98m, defender Vu Nhu Thanh at 1.81m, and midfielder Thach Bao Khanh who stands 1.73m tall.

Henrique Calisto wants the team to play with short low passes and capitalise on their good teamwork to play a fast-moving game.

Calisto used this style to coach Dong Tam Long An to two successive V-League championships in 2005-06, but it has yet to pay off for the national team.

Former coach, Austrian Alfred Riedl, however, managed to bring home victories in the glory days of Viet Nam football even though he had three players Hong Son, Viet Hoang and Sy Hung, who were under 1.7m tall.

The Viet Nam Football Federation said they didn’t believe that playing an attacking game with high crosses was appropriate for the team, and hope that the Portuguese coach can change his style.

But the height disadvantage is not their only problem; power and skill are also lacking.

In a 10-day training programme at Ham Rong Sport Centre in the Central Highlands Province of Gia Lai, Calisto focused on fitness and speed training to improve teamwork and ball control.

The coach said players will be in top form for the AFF Cup in December – where Viet Nam have drawn Group B with Thailand and Malaysia.

Future plan

In a recent survey, Duong Nghiep Chi, the former director of the Viet Nam Sport Science Institute, warned that Vietnamese youth aged between six and 18-years-old were weaker than their Southeast Asians counterparts in the same age group.

To encourage better health among the population, Chi and other experts at the institute have proposed a detailed pilot project, titled Improving the Strength and Height of Vietnamese People.

Chi’s detailed project aims to increase both the strength and average height of Vietnamese in the 2005-30 period. The project requires an initial investment of approximately VND637billion (US$40million) in five years.

It includes a programme to enhance the strength and height of over 33,000 students from 132 schools across the nation; they will take part in nutrition regimes, exercise plans and selected sports.

Ngu Duy Anh, deputy of the Ministry of Education and Training’s Student Management Department, said investing in sports programmes was a good place to start, but it may take time, as less than 20 per cent of primary schools have physical education instructors.

(Source: Viet Nam News)