Former Vietnam coach Troussier appears at Indonesia's Olympic playoff

The match on Thursday night ended with a 1-0 victory for African team Guinea, ending Indonesia’s dream of qualifying for the 2024 Olympics. Troussier was in the stands watching the game with a friend. His appearance attracted cameras during live broadcast of the match on FIFA’s website.

Troussier's wine company also posted a photo of him on X, formerly Twitter, with Indonesia national team doctor Choi Ju-young.

Choi worked for the national and U23 team of Vietnam for five years under coach Park Hang-seo. He became the doctor for Indonesia national and U23 teams at the end of 2023.

Philippe Troussier (R) and doctor Choi Ju-young at Clairefontaine, France to watch the Olympic playoff between Indonesia and Guinea on May 9, 2024. Photo by X/Sol Beni

Previously, in an interview with Japanese magazine Number on May 7, Troussier said he considered the Indonesia’s playoff game against Guinea an opportunity to measure the development of Asian football with other continents.

"Asian football has definitely improved," he said. "But let's see how they are compared to African football."

Indonesia had to end their Olympic dream after losing to Guinea with the only goal from a penalty in the first half. In the second half, coach Shin Tae-yong was sent of after receiving two yellow cards for overreacting when Guinea were given the second penalty.

 

 

Former Vietnam coach Troussier appears at Indonesia's Olympic playoff

HLV Troussier dự khán trận Indonesia thua Guinea

ndonesia had a historic run at the 2024 U23 Asian Cup when they passed the group stage for the first time, then defeated South Korea in the quarterfinals after a penalty shootout.

Their momentum was stopped after losing 2-0 to Uzbekistan in the semi-finals and 2-1 to Iraq in the third place play-off, missing two early opportunities to qualify for the Olympics.

Troussier left Vietnam on April 3. He terminated his contract with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) on the night of March 26, right after losing 3-0 to Indonesia in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, a result that left Vietnam with almost no chance to advance.

By not completing important goals, the two parties parted ways early even though his contract was valid until July 2026.

Before that, Troussier also failed to achieve a target when Vietnam were eliminated from the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup.

After leaving Vietnam, Troussier returned to France and then went to Morocco for vacation. He also agreed to be a pundit for Number, analyzing matches involving Japan in the 2024 U23 Asian Cup, a tournament where Vietnam reached the quarterfinals.

Troussier said that Asian football changed after the 2023 Asian Cup and 2024 U23 Asian Cup, where many strong teams such as South Korea, Australia and Iran were eliminated early.

"The gap between strong and weak teams is gradually shortening," he said.