Rafael Struick wants Indonesia to be sharper when facing Vietnam than when facing Iraq. Vietnam’s solid back line will be a test for Garuda.
Indonesia vs Vietnam will be presented in the second match of Group D of the 2023 Asian Cup at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Friday (19/1/2024). In the first match, both sides lost.
The Garuda team was defeated by Iraq 1-3, while The Golden Stars lost to Japan 2-4. These results mean that both teams must win this match to maintain their hopes in the knockout phase.
Vietnam is currently in third place in Group D while Indonesia is at the bottom. They are three points behind Iraq and Japan in the top position.
However, Indonesia’s mission to get three points in the match against Vietnam will not be easy. The pillar of the Red and White Team, Rafael Struick, believes that Philippe Troussier’s children are a good team.
This was reflected when Vietnam fought Japan. Even though they lost, Vietnam caused trouble for Japan, who was the top seed in this event.
Struick wants his team to be sharper in the next match than they were against Iraq. In the match against the Mesopotamian Lions, Indonesia only fired one shot at goal from Iraq.
The solidity of Vietnam’s defense line is clearly a test for the quality of Shin Tae-yong’s attack. However, Struick is confident that Indonesia will be able to dismantle it in the duel later.
“After the first match, I think the evaluation is that we have to work even harder in the second match. Now we focus on the match against Vietnam,” Rafael was quoted as saying on the PSSI website.
“I saw their match against Japan. We will sharpen our game pattern in scoring goals against Iraq. Their defense is good, we will try to break it down. It will be difficult, but we have the opportunity to do it,” he added.