Steve Darby:'The forecast was unfair to Vietnam'

Admittedly Vietnam at the lower door compared to Saudi Arabia. I have read comments on the current U23 age, and compare them to previous teams. But I don't believe in history in these cases. I do not pay much attention to the achievements of the past teams. Vietnam currently has other players, confronting other teams, in another condition, such as the yard with very few audiences. We can only judge the team through what they show here - Tashkent.

Vietnam has crossed the grid with the second position and that's the best success possible with a South East Asia team, because Korean is too strong. But seeing that Korea was crushed in the end, I'm not sure if Hwang Sun-hong's army was really strong.

Yesterday, Vietnam played in a 4-5-1 defensive formation, although the way they entered the game remained as proactive as ever. I think Vietnam found a good pair of centre-backs, Bui Hoang Viet Anh and Nguyen Thanh Binh. Pan Tuan Tai created two goals, and I also left a deep impression on him. Le Van Do played well before, so I was surprised when he became a substitute.

But above all, the first thing we can ensure that in Vietnam is passion. I have seen Vietnamese players sing the national anthem proudly. In the UK, defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has been criticized for not singing the national anthem, even though there are many people praising him. This is never a problem in Vietnam.

Vietnamese walked into a recess that was led by 0-1. This is an unfair result because they played better than Saudi Arabia. Vietnam entered the resolution, the center of the fight was good for Ryu saeba. They had a great chance at the first fight, when Khang pitched the League to stop, but they were ravaged in Saudi Arabia. If they score, it'll be a great start.

Vietnam are well-deserved to lead, so I was surprised when I saw them concede. In addition to the score, Vietnam's performance in the first half was also excellent.

The heartbreaking reality of professional football caused Vietnam to fail. They were led so they had to attack, and of course revealed gaps. Saudi Arabia controlled the ball well in the first 20 minutes of the second half, and was still Harbi, the husband crossed the ball for Feras Al-Buraikan to head close to the second goal. The match was from there, because Vietnam could not score three goals.

Gong-kyun must risk his life, take Wen and Wen to the stadium, immediately express his speed at 73. But Gong was a little naive to replace five people before 75. Ordinarily, the manager would leave a human rights to the compensation, in case of trauma players.

Vietnam suffered the worst when goalkeeper Fan Chuan left the penalty area and fouled Brikan. The referee immediately showed a red card, which was confirmed by VAR. But looking back at the slow projection, I felt the decision was heavy because it was clear the goalkeeper had touched the ball first. Brikan was very clever, and he went too far to let the referee see the foul. I think a yellow card is enough in this case. Manh Dung had to come back to catch the ball while Vietnam lost their main striker. But it must be admitted that he did a good job as goalkeeper.

Saudi Arabia has taken advantage of the person to control the match. Perhaps the difference between the two teams lies in the competition experience. The opponent played more international matches in Vietnam, and stone more often in the Saudi Arabia championship. Vietnam needs to look at this reality. Are young Vietnamese players playing all the necessary minutes? How do they improve if they don't play? Not to mention the Saudi Pro Leauge is also stronger than the V-League. In addition, Saudi Arabia also developed indigenous coaches, when all of their coaching staff were homegrown. VFF should also do so in the long term.

The tournament is over with Vietnam, but they can keep their heads high, once again be the older brother East Asia. Some players show they deserve to be paid for the national team. The World Cup 2026 is only two years away, and Asian Cup even sooner, I can't wait to see which players will be recruited.

If it was Park Hengrui, I would have known who I would call.