Vietnam - Malaysia: Competition for the final ticket of U23 Southeast Asia
*Vietnam - Malaysia: 4:00 p.m. Thursday, August 24, on MetaSports.
Vietnam did not face many difficulties in the race for tickets to the semi-finals, when respectively defeating rivals Laos 4-1 and the Philippines 1-0. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan even sees this as a test opportunity, so he should use many players and change the squad from half to half. The real strength of Vietnam in this tournament is still a question mark.
Due to the tight schedule, the team only had one practice session before the semi-finals. The players therefore mainly relax to recover, without practicing any special formations or tactics. The players were informed of this morning kick, a few hours before the match. They will have to adapt very quickly.
Most likely, Vietnam has more disturbances in the starting lineup compared to the match against the Philippines, a match with up to five U18 players. In which, the position of Nguyen Van Truong received much attention. The 20-year-old midfielder lost control and rushed to fight with his opponent after being fouled by a Filipino player. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan may use internal punishment to discipline his students. However, if Van Truong is absent, it will not affect Vietnam's strength too much because of the fact that he is only the number two choice in the position of public midfielder, after Dinh Xuan Tien.
Van Truong kicked the main stone in the victory over Laos. However, he had to leave the field, making way for Xuan Tien at the beginning of the second half. The presence of the Nghe player helps the team's gameplay to become virtual, attack more effectively and have three more goals. Xuan Tien then played the whole match against the Pilippines.
Malaysia will be a strong reagent for Vietnam's ambition to defend the championship. Coach Elavarasan brought a strong team award with seven players who attended the 32nd SEA Games. This team made an impression when they came back to beat Indonesia 2-1, then easily beat Timor Leste 3-1 to enter the semi-finals.
They have two strikers with good scoring ability. Fergus Tierney (of Scotland) scored twice in the win over Indonesia, while Afif also had two goals against Timor Leste. "I hope to continue to score goals against Vietnam," Afif shared.
Malaysia is very strong in the ball. This is a worry for coach Hoang Anh Tuan when goalkeeper Quan Van Chuan has not had a good feeling in the phase of going in and out to prevent crosses. He missed, leading to Laos equalizing 1-1, and made the same mistake early in the second half of the Philippines match, but fortunately the opponent did not take advantage.
