Goalkeeper coach of Hanoi Police FC: "Dead balls" are now deciding games from the World Cup to the V.League

According to the expert analysis of goalkeeper coach Bardi Valdir during his discussion with Thể Thao & Văn Hóa (TTXVN), the significance of dead-ball situations is unquestionable.

"The ultimate weapon" in modern football

Looking globally, this coach cited Arsenal in the Premier League as a definitive example of this success. He said: "The Gunners have turned corner kicks into a real nightmare for every defense and scored a series of crucial goals, all thanks to having a dedicated coach solely for designing set-piece plays. Most recently, at the biggest football festival on earth currently underway, many teams are also reaping the first fruits by directly applying this successful formula to the tournament."

According to statistics, at the 2026 World Cup with 104 matches and a total of 308 goals scored, set pieces (dead balls) continued to play an important role, contributing 54 goals, about 17.5% of the tournament's total, including 38 from corners, free kicks, throw-ins, and 16 from penalties. Argentina and England were the most efficient users with 7 goals each, while the USA also turned dead balls into a strategic weapon by scoring nearly half of their goals from this type. Compared to the historical record at the 2018 World Cup, where dead balls accounted for 43% of all goals, the proportion at the 2026 World Cup has decreased somewhat due to the explosion of open play, but dead-ball situations remain an essential tactical key to break deadlocks in tense knockout matches.

Coach Bardi Valdir places great emphasis on building a perfect set-piece system for every team he works with (Photo: NVCC)

However, for a set piece to be converted into a goal in attack or to be safely neutralized in defense, there is a huge amount of behind-the-scenes work. Coach Bardi Valdir emphasized that the core of the issue lies in the coaching staff providing complete and accurate "intelligence" to the players before they step onto the field. Modern football has no room for instinctive positioning; every square meter on the pitch must be calculated with data.

Decoding the opponent: From tactical drawings to reflexes on the training ground

Revealing the behind-the-scenes story at Hanoi Police FC, Coach Bardi Valdir said that the preparation process for set pieces is carried out extremely rigorously. Before each V-League match, the coaching staff members sit down to dissect and analyze overall information about the opponent. After obtaining a comprehensive picture, Valdir personally works with the three goalkeepers Nguyen Filip, Do Sy Huy, and Y Eli Nie to provide the most specific tactical instructions for dead-ball situations.

Coach Bardi Valdir (black hat) frequently exchanges with goalkeeper Nguyen Filip about coming out and staying in during set-piece situations (Photo: CAHN Club)

A series of tough questions about the opponent will be put on the table for the students to remember. Does the opposing kicker have a habit of curling the ball out or in? Depending on the shooting angle and the ball placement, should the goalkeeper choose a high or low position to proactively punch the ball or dominate the space?

Especially, identifying who is the opponent's main target to receive the ball is a vital factor, because it directly determines the starting position of Nguyen Filip or Sy Huy in the goal. The CAHN coaching staff even has to analyze whether the opponent prefers to hang the ball to the near post, far post, or straight at the center of the goal to devise interception plans.

But mere theory never wins a match. Coach Bardi Valdir affirmed that after those dry parameters are thoroughly analyzed, the coaching staff will immediately "digitize" them into practical drills on the training ground.

"The players and goalkeepers will have to practice the hypothetical situations over and over until they become as natural as a reflex. It is this meticulous preparation, down to the smallest detail, that is the springboard for teams to make a difference from dead-ball situations, turning a harmless situation into a match-deciding goal," the Brazilian coach shared.

Having been a goalkeeper himself, Coach Bardi Valdir always knows how to help his students have the best reflexes in each different set-piece situation (Photo: NVCC)

In the 2025/26 V.League season, Hanoi Police FC (CAHN) showed absolute dominance to win a convincing championship with a total of 64 points after 26 rounds (19 wins, 7 draws, 1 loss, goal difference +36, and 55 goals scored), thereby equaling the historical points record of the league.

Contributing to that achievement, the troops of Coach Mano Polking very effectively utilized dead-ball situations with corner kicks and wide free kicks to take advantage of the foreign players' height to break down deep-lying defenses, combined with a solid defense under the command of goalkeeper Nguyen Filip to minimize goals conceded from the opponent's dead balls.