With U.23 Saudi Arabia suddenly losing 1-2 to Iraq in the final round, losing the top spot in Group C to their opponents, the Group D “final” match between U.23 Uzbekistan and U.23 Vietnam no longer has any significance. tension, because losing also avoids the “elephant” in the quarterfinals.
| Will it be another U.23 Vietnam in the quarterfinals? |
Therefore, coach Hoang Anh Tuan replaced 8 official positions, including 3 players playing for the first time: goalkeeper Nguyen Van Viet, midfielder Quang Thinh and defender Hoang Van Toan. Coach Timur Kapadze also let many pillars rest, but with the current runner-up position and candidate for the championship, even if they want to avoid Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals, U.23 Uzbekistan cannot lose to U.23. Vietnam.
Playing slowly and keeping energy like a friendly match, U.23 Uzbekistan was still too strong, showing superior class and easily scoring 3 goals in the first half.
At the beginning of the second half, U.23 Vietnam brought on the field 4 pillars: Van Truong, Van Khang, Vi Hao and Minh Khoa, making the game more balanced. However, there were also two times when the vertical column saved goalkeeper Van Viet.
A comprehensive but necessary defeat, helping our young players return to the ground to realize that their level is still far from the top level on the continent. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan affirmed: We will show a different face in the quarterfinals. Let’s see!
U.23 Vietnam will play the quarterfinals at 0:30 on April 27 (Vietnam time), meeting the top team of Group C, Iraq. Overcoming this West Asian barrier to enter the semi-finals will be history considering that U.23 Vietnam has half a ticket to the 2024 Olympics. Because of a loss in the semi-finals (will meet the winner of the quarter-final match 1 between Qatar – Japan at 9pm tomorrow April 25) and then lose in the 3rd place match, we will still compete for tickets to Paris with the 4th place team of the 2023 U.23 African Championship, U.23 Guinea.
In the other bracket, the winner of the third quarter-final match between U.23 Uzbekistan – U.23 Saudi Arabia (9:00 p.m. on April 26) and the winner of the second quarter-final match between U.23 Korea – U.23 Indonesia (0:30 a.m. April 26) will meet in the semi-finals.
Tran Do
