Asian expert: 'Bright future awaits Vietnam U20'

"People can say that Vietnam needs to score more goals, or win head-to-head to deserve to continue," Rhysh Rai said of the Asian U20 tournament with MetaSports. "But Vietnam's elimination in the group stage is extremely grim, especially with a score like a joke 9-1 between Australia and Qatar. Vietnamese players may feel bad because they won Australia and Qatar without are allowed to continue, but they have a bright future."

Vietnam shared six points with Iran and Australia in Group B U20 Asia 2023, but only ranked third due to poor goal difference in the confrontation. If calculating the total goal difference, Hoang Anh Tuan's teachers and students are only third. The 1-3 loss to Iran in the last leg on March 7 made Vietnam eliminated in the group stage, while Iran and Australia entered the quarterfinals to compete for the U20 World Cup 2023.

Rai added that he was impressed with Vietnam's performance and results at the tournament, and was disappointed that coach Hoang Anh Tuan's team could not continue. "Players like Nguyen Duc Viet, Nguyen Van Truong, Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Khuat Van Khang or Nguyen Quoc Viet impressed me, but the whole Vietnamese team also played well," he added.

This is the second time in a row that Vietnam has stopped in the group stage at the tournament, after reaching the semi-finals in 2016 and winning a place at the 2017 World Cup, according to Rai, the gap between Vietnam and Australia or Iran is not large. But the lack of tactical awareness and international experience makes Vietnam not reach the level of these rivals.

"Vietnamese players play more technically," the former Singapore midfielder added. "In the match between technique and physical strength, teams often use tactics to limit the differences. Vietnamese players need more experience to do well in tactics and avoid making mistakes. They need to play. more ball against strong opponents to improve."

Vietnam's squad for the 2023 AFC U20 Championship has seven players who have played in the V-League, but are mainly secondary players on the youth team such as Dinh Xuan Tien, Tran Nam Hai or Bui Vi Hao. The five players who impressed Rai above all have never started in the V-League.

Iran also has only seven players playing in the Persian Pro League national championship, but all are the core of the youth team such as central defenders Amin Hazbavi, Milad Kor, striker Amir Ebrahimzadeh or Saeid Saharkhizan. The Australian squad has 18 players who have played in their national championship A-League.