U-23 Vietnam practices 11 meter shooting, waiting to finish off Iraq

(PLO) – 6 years ago, Quang Hai and his teammates defeated U-23 Iraq in the quarterfinals of the U-23 Asian Championship and currently, U-23 Vietnam also hopes to put their name in the top four strong teams. especially when meeting this very opponent.

Hoang Anh Tuan and his team soon passed the group stage after only two matches, winning U-23 Kuwait 3-1 and Malaysia 2-0. Therefore, U-23 Vietnam In the final match against Uzbekistan, they fielded a sub-team and suffered a heavy loss of 0-3, although it had no effect on the goal.

Right before the quarter-final match with Iraq taking place late on April 26, coach Hoang Anh Tuan said that U-23 Vietnam will play determinedly with a different face and he has prepared all options for the quarter-final match. According to VFF, the U-23 Vietnam team returned to the training ground to prepare for a one-or-one battle. Because there are only two days off, coach Hoang Anh Tuan prioritizes recovery solutions for his students both physically and mentally, and carefully builds plans for a knockout match.

The U-23 Vietnamese players also received medical care and recovery at the hotel swimming pool, before the on-field training session took place with a moderate amount of exercise, helping them regain excitement. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his colleagues carefully planned the strategy and did not rule out the possibility of an 11-meter penalty shootout.

At the end of the training session, the coaching staff divided the players into groups to compete in 11-meter free kicks for fun and prizes, both to practice skills for the goalkeeper and the players and to avoid psychological stress for the whole team. Remember the 2018 U-23 Asian Championship, Park Hang-seo and his team defeated Iraq U-23 on penalties after 120 minutes of a 2-2 draw and now, U-23 Vietnam also hopes for that. .

Before the tough quarter-final match, midfielder Khuat Van Khang said that after finishing the group stage and entering the preparation phase for the quarter-final match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan shared a lot with the players to strengthen their spirit. for them. He tried to motivate the team to always have the best focus and the highest determination for the quarter-final match against U-23 Iraq.

Viettel’s midfielder revealed that the U-23 Vietnam team will have a meeting to analyze their opponents and plan a strategy for the April 26 confrontation. According to Khuat Van Khang’s assessment, opponent U-23 Iraq through matches in the group stage has shown itself to be a strong team: “West Asian teams are always highly appreciated. Their strong point is their body shape and physical strength. To create a surprise against Iraq, we will have to prepare carefully and fight together with the highest spirit and motivation.”

At the 2024 U-23 Asian Finals, Khuat Van Khang is one of the factors receiving a lot of expectations from coach Hoang Anh Tuan. Although he has not reached his desired peak performance, this midfielder also made his mark with a beautiful free kick in the match against U-23 Malaysia. Two masterpieces by Khuat Van Khang and Van Tung (against U-23 Kuwait) entered the top voting for the best goals in the AFC group stage.

Recalling the moment of scoring this goal, Khuat Van Khang shared: “I am very happy to have such a beautiful goal. This is also the situation that I practice regularly. Speaking of this goal, I remember goalkeeper Quan Van Chuan. He told me to pay attention to your team’s goalkeeper. When I run, the goalkeeper will move one step. If the goalkeeper catches a near corner, kick it back. Thanks to Mr. Chuan’s reminder, I was able to kick so well.”

On the afternoon of April 25, the U-23 Vietnam team had a practice session to practice their fighting strategies and select personnel for the squad to play in the quarterfinals against U-23 Iraq. This match will take place at 8:30 p.m., local time on April 26 (0:30 a.m. on April 27, Vietnam time).