Vietnam's dependency on strike duo: A look at goalscoring form in major tournaments

At the My Dinh Stadium, after the final whistle of a mid-season friendly, I often stay longer than other journalists. Not to wait for the coach's remarks or to ask for autographs, but to watch the technical area being cleaned, to hear the studs of the substitutes echoing from the tunnel. This habit comes from my days reporting in the K-League, where I learned that a team often reveals its tactical weaknesses not during victory, but in the quiet moments after a match. And in the Vietnam National Team, that quiet is increasingly posing a big question: If the main strikers don't score, who will?

In five recent major tournaments, national teams have often shown clear patterns in goal distribution. At the AFF Cup 2026, Vietnam scored 15 goals in total, with 10 coming from the strike duo of Nguyen Tien Linh and Nguyen Van Toan. But beyond that impressive number, it's essential to examine how those goals were created. According to data from preliminary match analysis I've compiled, this duo accounted for over 66% of the team's total goals, yet none of their goals came from dynamic wing-play or well-structured set-pieces. This suggests the attack is operating based on the individual capabilities of the two centre-forwards rather than a system that diversifies the attacking threats. This raises a genuine tactical question: Are we building the squad around the two strikers, or are we placing the entire goalscoring burden on their shoulders?

The context becomes clearer when we look at the midfield and wingers, who should be the secondary source of goals. At the 2026 AFF Championship, Vietnam's midfield contributed only two goals, both from long-range efforts outside the box, a number significantly lower than the average of other top regional teams. Meanwhile, Thailand, our biggest rival in the region, had six goals from attacking midfielders and overlapping full-backs, showing a more balanced distribution that makes them harder to defend against. Coach Kim Sang-sik's team seems to be falling into a tactical pattern: all passes into the box are directed towards these two names, and when opponents read that, a deadlock is inevitable.

Looking back to the 2026 K-League season, during my time with Incheon United in empty stadiums, I witnessed a similar paradox. The team relied almost entirely on striker Mugosa for goals. When Mugosa was marked out or off-form, the entire attacking system collapsed. They finished the season with the second-lowest goal tally in the league and nearly got relegated. This dependency on one or two individuals in attack isn't just a personnel issue; it's a tactical vulnerability that any smart opponent can exploit. I see a concerning parallel in the current Vietnam National Team. From the off-the-ball movements to the combination drills in the final third, everything suggests the final destination is the strike duo. But modern football demands more: midfielders need to be goalscoring threats, and full-backs must be alternative solutions in deadlock situations.

The counter-intuitive perspective I want to raise is that this is not about player quality. Both Tien Linh and Van Toan have proven their class at regional and continental levels. The problem lies in how the coach builds secondary threats and how the surrounding players read situations to become goalscorers themselves. Club-level tournaments often prioritize finding high-scoring strikers, but at the national team level, the limited training time makes diversifying attacking options more challenging. However, looking at successful teams like Japan in the Asian Cup or Australia in World Cups, they always have a true 'team attack,' where full-backs, central midfielders, and even centre-backs can score from set-pieces. Vietnam has a solid defence and an energetic midfield, but if they don't turn those players into constant threats in front of the opponent's goal, they will always have to live with the reality that one day, the strike duo might fail to find the net.

Looking ahead, I believe the next internal signal to watch isn't about calling up a new striker, but how coach Kim Sang-sik will restructure attacking drills. Will he allow midfielders like Hoang Duc or Quang Hai more freedom to shoot from distance, or will he boldly use full-backs like Van Hau or Van Thanh as unexpected attacking options from set-pieces? The upcoming tournaments will be a test for this question. Football is a game of surprises, but to create surprises, you must first eliminate predictable dependency. And for a footballing nation eager to reach higher, it's time to view goals from a multi-dimensional perspective, not just focusing on the traditional 'number 9' or 'number 10'.