The importance of Vo Hoang Minh Khoa

In the first half of the match between U.23 Vietnam and U.23 Uzbekistan, coach Hoang Anh Tuan still used the familiar 3-5-2 formation. In particular, the trio of central midfielders used are Nguyen Thai Son – Nguyen Duc Viet and Nguyen Duc Phu. Vo Hoang Minh Khoa was allowed to rest on the bench.

In addition to the familiar face Thai Son playing relatively well, Duc Viet and Duc Phu did not play well. They often have to run after the ball and get caught up in the opponent’s playing style, leading to an inability to secure their position.

As a result, the U.23 Vietnam team completely lost the match to the U.23 Uzbekistan team. Under constant pressure, coach Hoang Anh Tuan’s defense was not the best quality and had to concede 3 goals in the first 45 minutes.

As shown above, Thai Son (No. 19), Duc Phu (No. 17) and Duc Viet (No. 8) had to cluster in a passive defensive position. After entering the field, Minh Khoa (No. 6) expanded his range of activities to the sidelines, helping the midfield relieve pressure.

We can also explain this. When using Thai Son, Duc Phu and Duc Viet at the same time, coach Hoang Anh Tuan wants these midfielders to promote their strengths in competition and play fiery football. All three of these players are defensive midfielders and are not good at managing in a narrow range to escape pressing.

At this time, the ball deployment stage is having problems. The Vietnamese team lacks a player who can confidently move the ball forward. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan realized that and solved it by sending Vo Hoang Minh Khoa onto the field, while Duc Phu – Duc Viet were taken off.

In the second half, the U.23 Vietnam team switched to a 5-4-1 formation. The midfield only has 2 players left, Minh Khoa – Thai Son, but still enough to reduce pressure from the opponent. As a result, coach Hoang Anh Tuan’s team did not concede any more goals, and the number of shots on target from Uzbekistan’s U.23 team also halved (from 4 to 2).

When the midfield played smoother, the U.23 Vietnam team also deployed better attacks. In the first half, we only had one shot from a narrow angle by Nguyen Minh Quang. In the second half, the number of shots was 6.

The improvement also came from coach Hoang Anh Tuan bringing on the field a number of important players such as Bui Vi Hao, Nguyen Van Truong, and Khuat Van Khang. But overall, Minh Khoa still contributes a lot to the playing style of the U.23 Vietnam team.

Minh Khoa’s accurate passing and passing accuracy rates on the opponent’s half in this match were 81% and 83.3%, surpassing Duc Phu (73.3% and 66.7%) and Duc Viet (76). % and 70%). In addition, the midfielder of Binh Duong Club also created an opportunity for his teammates once.

In the upcoming quarterfinals, the U.23 Vietnam team will meet a very strong opponent, U.23 Iraq. The task of controlling the midfield becomes more important than ever. At that time, fans put all their trust in Vo Hoang Minh Khoa, who had 1 goal at the 2024 U.23 Asian Championship.