Vietnam begins the campaign to defend the U23 crown in Southeast Asia
*Vietnam - Laos: 16h Sunday 20/8, on MetaSports.
Vietnam is the defending champion of Southeast Asia U23, after a dramatic journey to the throne in 2022. At the tournament in Cambodia, coach Dinh The Nam continuously lost his army because of Covid-19, three times had to bring additional players. supplemented by road. Even in the semi-finals, reserve goalkeeper Tran Liem Dieu had to kick the striker when his teammate Nguyen Trung Thanh was injured because the team could no longer play. The feat was even more glorious when the team defeated Thailand's biggest opponent in the final to take the throne.
This year, Vietnam uses a young squad to prepare for the future. Of the 26 players brought to Thailand by coach Hoang Anh Tuan, only three have just turned 22, the rest are many new members 18, 19 or 20 years old. However, this force is still rated as quality when a series of players have a lot of experience in fighting in the V-League such as midfielder Luong Duy Cuong, winger Nguyen Phi Hoang (Da Nang), midfielder Dinh Dinh. Xuan Tien (SLNA), Khuat Van Khang (Viettel), Nguyen Van Truong (Hanoi FC) or strikers Bui Vi Hao (Binh Duong), Nguyen Quoc Viet (HAGL)...
This group of rich players just joined the army due to the V-League schedule and did not have much time to match the squad, but goalkeeper captain Quan Van Chuan said it was not too big of a problem. He said: "The team had a friendly match against Bahrain in Thailand, the players deployed the scheme quite well. The whole team is also ready for this year's tournament. We will try each match, the goal is to go to the final match."
In the past few days, coach Hoang Anh Tuan let the team practice passing armpits to the edge. Midfielders are asked to go higher, try to finish, save opportunities to score. As the defending champion, he also affirmed that there was no other way for Vietnam to at least go to the final.
Vietnam has a great advantage in the opening match against Laos. Because Group C has only three teams, coach Hoang Anh Tuan's teachers and students are given a break in the first series, so they are physically fit and can also hide their cards.
Meanwhile, Laos played the first match to draw the Philippines 2-2 despite being overplayed in the last 15 minutes of the match. The team of the country of millions of elephants also employs many young players, even their number one goalkeeper is 17-year-old Lokphathip. Laos' gameplay has not left much of an impression. They organized sporadic attacks, two goals against the Philippines came from unexpected mistakes of the opponent. In defense, Laos is also not very organized, often allowing opponents to easily break through, even when the Philippines plays without people.
This is just the opening match, but a victory will help teachers and coach Hoang Anh Tuan widen the door to the semi-finals. In this group, only the top team will definitely advance. The second-placed team will have to compare the results with the second-placed teams in Groups A and B to choose one remaining spot for the semi-finals.
