VietNamNet Bridge – After the exercise in the morning of July 19, striker Viet Thang asked the Vietnamese national football squad’s coach Falko Goetz’s permission to leave the team, reasoning that he is suffering from taut muscles. The German coach seemed to be very angry at the striker’s attitude.
Viet Thang was also summoned for the national team’s first gathering to prepare for the games v.s Macau. However, the striker had to leave the team before the first-leg game at HCM City’s Thong Nhat Stadium, because the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) “forgot” the red card that Viet Thang got in the match against China in the qualifier round of the Asian Cup 2011. The striker, therefore, did not attend the two games v.s Macau.

Viet Thang’s return this time is expected to help strengthen the attack line in the games against Qatar, which is highly appreciated. The striker did exercises normally with the national team but after the exercise in the morning of July 19, he asked Goetz’s permission to leave the team for “taut muscles”.

During several minutes talking with Goetz, Viet Thang said he always wanted to serve the national squad but his current health condition is not good enough for the upcoming games with Qatar.

The German coach seemed to be discontented with Thang. He shook his head and went straight to the hotel. Thang shook hands with other players as saying goodbye, but he had to stay to wait for coach Goetz’s decision.

Commenting about the upcoming matches against Qatar, striker Cong Vinh, who scored seven goals in the game against Macau, said that though Vietnam is said to be weaker than Qatar, but with iron will, Vietnam would play well in the first leg and win the second leg match.

Coach Goetz is hopeful about the Asian World Cup qualifier against Qatar this Saturday (July 23), though the Gulf nation is ranked more than 50 places ahead.

“Qatar is much stronger than us, but it does not mean that we have no chance,” he said.

But he stressed that the Vietnamese players had to have a strong desire for victory and perform at their best. He hinted at deploying new tactics but played his cards close to his chest.

Vietnam, ranked 140, and Qatar, 94, play their first leg at the Al-Saad Stadium on July 23 before playing the return match in Hanoi on July 28.

The winner of this second round match will advance to the next round to join Australia, Japan, the two Koreas, and Bahrain -- the five teams that qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and have been seeded directly to the third round.

Vietnam entered the second round with a 13-1 aggregate win over Macau in early July.

The 2014 World Cup will be played in June and July 2014 in Brazil.

PV