Vietnam and Indonesia national team coaches face off ahead of the Asian quarterfinals

The head coaches of Vietnam and Indonesia futsal teams shared notable comments before the 2026 Asian futsal quarterfinal match.

At 7:00 PM on February 3rd, the Vietnam futsal team will play against host Indonesia in the Asian quarterfinals. Ahead of this encounter between the two teams, Coach Diego Giustozzi offered his assessment of the opponent:

“Indonesia comes from the same region and plays a style similar to ours,” Coach Giustozzi commented. “But we reached this stage with a strong start because the players performed excellently in the three group matches, and I can see they are improving with each game,” he praised his players.

Meanwhile, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) highly praised the red-shirted squad in this tournament: "The 2016 tournament remains Vietnam’s best achievement in this competition, when they surprised by defeating Japan on penalties to reach the semifinals, and a decade later, Diego Giustozzi’s team seems to have enough quality to - at minimum - match that success," AFC stated.

On the other side, Coach Hector Souto is no stranger to the Vietnamese futsal players. From 2014 to 2016, he served as assistant coach for Vietnam’s futsal team.

“I know Vietnam’s coach and some players who were once my students. When Vietnam reached the semifinals (in 2016), I was the assistant coach, but this time, I hope to lead Indonesia to the semifinals,”Coach Souto shared.

According to Coach Souto, there is no secret between the two teams as they often face each other regionally. In their most recent meeting at SEA Games 33, Indonesia lost to Vietnam 0-1:

“We have played them many times, so we know exactly what to expect. I hope some players will return, and with a full squad, we can deliver a great match.”