U23 Vietnam ended the group stage of the 2024 U23 Asian Championship with good results but still brought many worries. Young players have not yet been able to explode to their full potential.
According to former national player Nguyen Tuan Phong, U23 Vietnam’s performance in the group stage was not surprising. It is difficult to expect a team with an average age slightly over 20 to be able to play as well as the older generations of Nguyen Quang Hai and Nguyen Cong Phuong to create a surprise in the quarterfinals.
U23 Vietnam 0-3 U23 Uzbekistan.
It’s difficult to ask U23 Vietnam to play like Cong Phuong and Quang Hai
– U23 Vietnam lost to U23 Uzbekistan with a score of 0-3, in which all 3 goals came in the first half. However, this failure does not seem to be unexpected by fans.
Perhaps those with football expertise understand that 90% of U23 Vietnam will fail against U23 Uzbekistan. It is very difficult for any surprise to happen for U23 Vietnam to win or draw against this opponent.
Any coach would do the same as Hoang Anh Tuan. This is the last match, U23 Vietnam won the ticket to continue, while second place in the group met a possibly more comfortable opponent – U23 Iraq.
U23 Vietnam lost to U23 Uzbekistan. (Photo: AFC)
Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan’s plan is reasonable. It is necessary to replace those who are carded or ensure physical fitness to avoid injuries to the players. Mr. Tuan also has a difficult position. Replacing many people and losing the match is easy to be criticized, but it still has to be done. The players need the opportunity to express themselves so the coach can consider the most important match.
In the first two matches, the team won but not excellently, there were many individual errors, the positions were not good. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan needs to check more reserve players. I was worried when U23 Vietnam conceded early, but the result of 0-3 was also consistent with the capabilities of the two teams.
Uzbekistan U23 is very strong, has stable results in recent tournaments, continuously reaching the semi-finals. Their U20 team just won the Asian championship and there are many people playing in this tournament. Yesterday’s loss was normal and had no impact on U23 Vietnam.
– Fans are more optimistic when U23 Vietnam meets U23 Iraq, not U23 Saudi Arabia. It is true that U23 Vietnam had good memories when encountering this opponent in the continental tournament in 2018. Can the same thing happen again?
Even though Iraq U23 beat Saudi Arabia U23, I think Saudi Arabia U23 has already entered the quarterfinals. There is a bit of laxity so Iraq U23 has a chance. In youth football, sometimes we can’t say anything in advance. I think Iraq U23 is still an unpredictable unknown. At the beginning of the tournament, they lost to U23 Thailand. Many people underestimated Iraq U23, but then they won the remaining 2 matches.
6 years ago, U23 Vietnam defeated U23 Iraq, but the current squad cannot be asked to play like Quang Hai and Cong Phuong. That victory wasn’t even simple, we had to play extra time and win on penalties.
Iraq is not yet the top team in Asia but their teams are still very strong. Iraq U23 has a very unpleasant playing style, not losing too much to Japan, Korea, Iran and its strength is still far away from Vietnamese teams.
U23 Vietnam still has many problems in defense. (Photo: AFC)
However, I still repeat, U23 Indonesia lost the first match and won the next 2 matches, U23 Thailand won the first match but lost the next 2 matches. Nothing can be predicted in youth tournaments.
U23 Vietnam is the weakest team in the quarterfinals, that is true. Compared to the number of players and the current performance of the whole football industry, we are weaker than U23 Indonesia. Any team U23 Vietnam meets is the underdog.
– U23 Vietnam is not highly rated, but youth football is always unpredictable. Does U23 Vietnam have the ability to create a surprise against U23 Iraq?
If you win this match, you will enter the semi-finals and have a great chance to attend the Olympics. I believe the coaching staff has already calculated the personnel for the quarter-final match before meeting U23 Uzbekistan. If Thailand U23 can beat Iraq U23, why can’t Vietnam U23 do it? Iraq U23 is very strong but not unbeatable. I think it’s easier for U23 Vietnam to meet U23 Iraq at the national team level.
U23 Vietnam is the underdog team and needs to focus as much as possible on defense. I hope players will be confident in playing football.
I put my hope in Nguyen Thai Son and Vo Hoang Minh Khoa. If they play properly, they are a very good midfielder pair. Both of them have played in the V.League for 2 seasons. The midfield of U23 Vietnam always needs fire, fighting and bravery. These two players are very important to U23 Vietnam at this time.
In the striker line, I still believe in Vo Nguyen Hoang. He doesn’t score many goals, but he can press, play modernly, can attract many defenders and open up space for teammates. He is quite stubborn and personable, strikers need people like that. In fact, Nguyen Hoang receives the ball and opens it up for his teammates more, but does not often appear in scoring hot spots.
Vo Nguyen Hoang is an important tactical factor of U23 Vietnam. (Photo: AFC)
The more mistakes U23 Vietnam makes, the more psychological problems it has
– In addition to success in terms of results, U23 Vietnam revealed many shortcomings. What weaknesses do group stage matches help players see to overcome?
U23 Vietnam’s victories still have many errors, especially individual defensive errors. Entering the next round, meeting a stronger opponent, if such an error occurs, it will be very difficult to correct. U23 Iraq is not U23 Kuwait or U23 Malaysia.
Actually, this generation of players is not as good as the generation of Quang Hai and Cong Phuong. However, as mentioned, in youth tournaments, opportunities are always open to every team. U23 Vietnam focuses on all their abilities, plays a sublime match and still defeats the opponent.
– In this tournament, Vietnam’s U23 defense makes fans worried. There are players who play a lot in the V.League but still make elementary mistakes.
Making personal mistakes often is an inherent weakness, sometimes it can also be called a habit. However, young players can still fix it if they know how to learn lessons.
U23 Vietnam needs to overcome the weaknesses revealed in the group stage. (Photo: AFC)
No coach in the V.League teaches players fouls and tricks like that, especially when football now has VAR. I think part of it is a habit from the youth that players must gradually correct. If it happened on the national team, it would be a serious mistake.
Ngoc Thang’s situation in the match against U23 Kuwait is an example, it was a clear error. The referee is very strict. However, in the following two matches against U23 Malaysia and U23 Uzbekistan, the players made another mistake. I think coach Hoang Anh Tuan understands this, but it cannot be fixed overnight.
– Many players do not play according to their true abilities. Are U23 Vietnam having difficulty because of psychology?
When there are many individual mistakes, players will have psychological problems. Defenders will feel afraid when confronting strikers. The more afraid they are, the more likely they are to make mistakes. Even on the national team under coach Philippe Troussier, some defenders still make mistakes due to psychological effects. Nguyen Thanh Binh has had problems playing in the team over the past few years, let alone the young players.
Players are also influenced by social networks. The more they watch, the more pressure they feel from criticism. The players must know how to overcome. Football is different now, fans are demanding because they watch the Premier League and want Vietnamese players to play like that.
