Vietnam Without Van Vi, Hoang Duc: Indonesian Media See an Opportunity, but Football Doesn't Follow the Absentee List

Right before the FIFA ASEAN Cup, Indonesian media turned Vietnam's injury list into a victory bulletin. The names Van Vi, Hoang Duc and Duy Manh were repeated as proof that the group had changed colors. But if football were decided only by the number of unavailable players, tactics would not exist. Based on my experience following matches in K League and the Vietnam national team over the years, I see what those articles miss: the question lies in the structure after the losses. Indonesian media have reason to be optimistic. They once watched Vietnam beat them 3-0 in the most recent meeting, but now they only want to remember what is not there. Van Vi has not recovered in time, Hoang Duc has physical problems, and Duy Manh was ruled out with an injury. On the surface, that is a real loss for coach Kim Sang-sik. But journalists in Jakarta are forgetting that space does not disappear by itself; it only changes its name to failure. When looking deeper, the story is not simple. Van Vi is not the type who scores regularly, but he is the pulse of the transition from defence to attack. Under Kim Sang-sik, Van Vi often pushed high on the left, stretching the opponent's defence to create space for the centre-backs to launch long balls. Without him, the team loses a direct pressing-escape channel. The ball can be moved to the right, but the opponent will know where to wait to close that path. Hoang Duc is another story. In the 3-0 win over Indonesia, Hoang Duc provided two decisive assists. He is not just a passer in midfield; he is the one who chooses the right moment to deliver the ball into zone 14, something that is hard for the naked eye to see. Between two phases of play, time exposes decisions that ordinary eyes miss. Hoang Duc belongs to the group of players who create attacking rhythm by moving little but efficiently. He attracts pressure, then turns to pass through a line. Without Hoang Duc, Vietnam may still keep the ball well, but will struggle to produce the final passes sharp enough to break a well-organised defence. Duy Manh is harder to assess because the original article does not detail his specific tactical role this season. He is called a pillar, and in Southeast Asian football, an experienced centre-back often maintains the defensive rhythm. But I do not want to jump to the conclusion that his absence creates a fatal hole. We need to see who Kim Sang-sik places next to Que Ngoc Hai or Nguyen Thanh Chung. If the replacement is a young and fast centre-back, the defensive problem may be solved differently. What makes me believe that Indonesian media are celebrating too early lies in the counter-intuitive angle. When a team loses two players who performed well in a 3-0 win, the natural thought for the opponent is to push high and exploit the lack of cohesion in the new defence. But reputation does not protect you; it only tells the opponent what to exploit. Indonesia may push high, and when they do, they leave space behind. Vietnam's problem without Van Vi is not a lack of fast runners, but a lack of players who choose the right trajectory to receive the ball behind the opponent's defence. If Kim Sang-sik builds a counter-attacking plan that does not need a pure left winger, Indonesia may walk into a trap. An important point that Indonesian articles do not mention: Kim Sang-sik's Vietnam does not need to control possession. They can deliberately defend in their own third and wait for the opponent to make a mistake in transition. Van Vi was a link in that plan, but the whole plan does not collapse. The South Korean coach has handled the loss of personnel well at club level. When he loses a wide player, he tends to switch to a three-centre-back system, pushing an inverted full-back inside to create chances. If that happens, Indonesia will face a completely different system from the one they saw on video. I also remember the lesson from the 2026 World Cup, when Germany had about 61% possession but lost 0-2 to South Korea. Germany did not lose because of a lack of talent; they lost because they pushed up and left space behind. In a short tournament like the FIFA ASEAN Cup, fitness and timing matter more than the player list. For Vietnam, the issue is not who is absent, but whether the team can keep its tactical principles for 90 minutes. If the replacements merely follow their roles, they may produce an unexpected result. Southeast Asian football has never had a huge gap in quality. Vietnam's first match will show whether Kim Sang-sik has prepared a real plan B or is just patching holes. If he chooses a true striker to receive long balls instead of trying to keep a compact shape, Indonesia will face one-on-one situations on the wing. At that moment, Indonesian fans may realise they are facing a different team, not a weaker one. The big question is not how many players Vietnam have lost. The question is whether Indonesia have enough patience to wait for the right moment. If they rush forward from the very first minute, young Vietnamese players can use their speed to punish them. Every tactic is a hypothesis until the opponent forces you to respond. The absentee list is only the starting point, and football always operates in the second half of the story. I am not saying Vietnam will win simply because Indonesia are overconfident. I am saying that simple analyses like “lose stars, lose strength” often miss the most important part: structure and timing. In the FIFA ASEAN Cup, where one draw can change the whole group picture, the team that controls the rhythm between the moments has the bigger advantage. And that cannot be seen on the injury list. When the match kicks off, I will watch how Vietnam escape pressure from their own half. If they still find a way to progress down the left, even without Van Vi, then Indonesia's claim of a “historic opportunity” will soon become pressure. If they instead fall into chaos and only launch aimless long balls, then the pre-tournament concerns will have truly materialised. In my years of watching football in South Korea, I have learned that Kim's teams rarely follow the media script. They accept losing the ball, accept dropping deep, but never accept losing organisation. This version of Vietnam may not be beautiful, but it can be ugly enough to make Indonesia uncomfortable. And in football, discomfort is often the beginning of mistakes. Forget the absentee list for a moment. Look at the space Kim Sang-sik will create. If he does it right, Indonesian fans will soon realise they celebrated too early. If he does it wrong, then the injury story deserves further analysis. The first match will answer everything.