Akira Nishino Takes a Dig at Vietnamese Players Unprofessional Behavior

Thai War Elephants’ manager Akira Nishino has reportedly been triggered by Vietnam’s players for exhibiting unprofessional behavior during the World Cup Qualifiers. The latest match between Thailand and Vietnam that took place on the last 5^th of September raised some concerns on Nishino’s part where a goalless draw took place. The two teams are bound to meet at My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi come November 19^th.

The Group G rankings have Thailand and Vietnam on an equal playing field at seven points in the 2022 World Cup as well as the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Joint-Qualifiers come second round. UAE, an early crowd favorite are third with six points. Nishino commented on the “time-wasting tactics” deployed by Park Hang-seo’s team during the opener match of the WCQ.

“As I see it, in some countries with a low or average football level, the real-time of a match is less than 90 minutes. They really only play in 50-60 minutes. In more developed countries, players make every effort to reach a good outcome, but here, I could not understand their style. Football will not improve if there are many unprofessional players like that,” Nishino said.