Coach Hoang Anh Tuan: U23 Vietnam will ‘show a different face’ in the quarterfinals

The U23 Vietnam team closed the group stage with a 0-3 loss to U23 Uzbekistan in the final round of Group D of the 2024 U23 Asian Finals.

This result is not too surprising because Uzbekistan U23 is rated much higher and has also been in impressive form since the beginning of the tournament.

Meanwhile, U23 Vietnam does not have the strongest squad with up to 8 changes in personnel in the starting lineup compared to the match with U23 Malaysia, to ensure the most optimal force for the quarter-finals.

Losing to U23 Uzbekistan, U23 Vietnam only won second place in Group D with 6 points, and will have to face U23 Iraq in the quarterfinals.

This is the second time the Vietnam U23 Team has met the Iraq U23 Team in the history of the U23 Asian Finals.

6 years ago in Changzhou (China), U23 Vietnam shocked with a 5-3 victory in a lucky penalty shootout after the two teams drew 3-3 in 120 minutes in the quarterfinals.

Compared to the encounter 6 years ago, Iraq U23 is still rated “top” compared to the “Golden Star Warriors.” What this team showed in the group stage of this year’s Asian U23 tournament is the clearest proof.

In the group stage, Iraq U23 Team made many people doubt their strength when they lost a shocking 0-2 to Thailand U23 on the opening day.

However, after that shock, Radhi Shenaishil’s team came back strongly with a resounding 4-2 victory over Tajikistan U23.

Coach Radhi Shenaishil’s team continued to assert its strength with an important 2-1 victory over defending champion U23 Saudi Arabia, to advance straight to the quarterfinals as the top of Group C.

With what Iraq has shown, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan is cautious when he highly evaluates his opponent and believes that the upcoming quarterfinals will be a very difficult match.

“Captain” of U23 Vietnam commented: “The quarter-final match is definitely very difficult. In the group stage, U23 Iraq lost to Thailand but that does not mean they are a weak team. They are still a strong team.”

Appreciating his opponents, Mr. Tuan also affirmed: “We came here to compete and the players will show a different face in the quarterfinals.”

According to the match schedule, the encounter between U23 Vietnam and U23 Iraq in the quarterfinals will take place at 0:30 a.m. April 27 (Vietnam time) at Al Janoub Stadium.

The U23 Vietnam team will have two days to prepare for this match. This will be the necessary time for the players to recover as well as for Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan to come up with an optimal plan for the match against Iraq.

In addition to this pair, the U23 Asia quarterfinals have three other notable matches. U23 Qatar meets U23 Japan, U23 Korea faces the remaining representative of Southeast Asia, U23 Indonesia, while U23 Uzbekistan meets U23 Saudi Arabia.

According to the schedule, U23 Qatar and U23 Japan will play the opening match of the quarter-finals at 9:00 p.m. on April 25; Next, the U23 Korea-U23 Indonesia match took place at 0:30 a.m. on April 26. U23 Uzbekistan meets U23 Saudi Arabia at 9:00 p.m. on April 26.

In the semi-finals, the winner of the U23 Iraq-U23 Vietnam pair will meet the winner of the U23 Qatar-U23 Japan pair. Meanwhile, the winner of U23 Uzbekistan-U23 Saudi Arabia will meet the winner of U23 Korea-U23 Indonesia.

Teams that win to enter the semi-finals of the 2024 U23 Asian Championship will have a great chance to win the right for France to attend the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Specifically, the three teams winning first, second and third place at this year’s U23 Asian Finals will win direct spots to France.

The fourth-placed team will participate in the play-off to face Guinea U23 Team, representative of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), to compete for the remaining spot at the Olympics.