East Timor's coach speaks frankly about Vietnam's strength after the 0-7 loss at the AFF Cup

Coach Jose Pedro acknowledged that the Vietnam team holds a clear advantage in quality, and he believes the 0-7 loss is an essential learning experience for the young Timor-Leste side.

Timor-Leste suffered a heavy 0-7 defeat against the Vietnam national team in their opening match of the 2026 AFF Cup. After the game, Coach Jose Pedro openly recognized the significant gap between the two sides, while emphasizing that his players are still in the early stages of their development.

"My players are still at a different level. This is only the beginning of the team-building process, and we are very, very early on this journey. The goals right now are to build a foundation for the future, not to achieve immediate results," Coach Jose Pedro shared.

According to the Timor-Leste manager, the Vietnam team possessed superior quality and maintained control throughout the match. The visitors' errors also caused their defensive structure to break down quickly, especially in the first half.

"We had to face a truly strong Vietnam team, which was better in terms of ability and kept the game under control for the entire match. Some mistakes caused our system to collapse, combined with Vietnam's excellent performance, which left us overwhelmed from the start," Mr. Jose Pedro assessed.

The Timor-Leste head coach said he had anticipated the difficulties before the match. Although Vietnam did not field all their key players in the starting eleven, the hosts still had many quality individuals in midfield and attack.

"When you face big teams like this, everything is really tough. I want to praise Vietnam. Even though they didn't put out their strongest lineup with all their main players, we still felt respect from the opponent. Dealing with such high-quality players is a huge challenge," Coach Jose Pedro added.

Besides acknowledging the defeat, the strategist stressed that Timor-Leste has a very young squad and needs more time to mature. In his view, matches against strong teams like Vietnam will help the players recognize their weaknesses, gain experience, and avoid repeating mistakes.

After the 0-7 loss, Timor-Leste will focus on physical recovery and preparation for the match against Singapore. Coach Jose Pedro confirmed that he will try to manage the squad wisely, thereby helping the team improve their performance and aim for a better result in the next round at the 2026 AFF Cup.