Indonesian newspaper speaks honestly comparing home team with U23 Vietnam

(Dan Tri) - Indonesian newspapers expressed their admiration for U23 Vietnam when they won a ticket to the U23 Asian Cup for the 6th time. Meanwhile, they also expressed their pain when U23 Indonesia was eliminated early.

Vietnam U23 team has successfully won the ticket to the U23 Asian tournament as the top team in Group C with 9 points after three matches. This is the 6th consecutive time that the "Golden Star Warriors" have participated in the U23 Asian tournament.

Vietnam U23 won all matches in the qualifying round of the U23 Asian Cup (Photo: Minh Quan).

Meanwhile, U23 Indonesia failed to qualify. That is a sad reality for the team that reached the semi-finals of the tournament two years ago.

Commenting on the situation of the two teams, Liputan 6 (Indonesia) expressed its admiration for U23 Vietnam: “U23 Vietnam played very well throughout the qualifying round. As the host team of Group C, they completely dominated the teams in the group when they won all three matches against U23 Singapore, U23 Bangladesh and U23 Yemen.

In which, they scored 4 goals and did not concede any. This achievement further shows that U23 Vietnam is a stable force at the U23 Asian level. They have participated in 6 consecutive U23 Asian tournaments since 2016 and won the runner-up position in the tournament in 2018.

As for U23 Indonesia, the team could not get a ticket to the U23 Asian tournament after losing to U23 Korea. The team from the archipelago only got 4 points and was not enough to compete for the excellent second place in the group.

It is painful to compare this achievement with 2024. At that time, coach Shin Tae Yong's team reached the semi-finals of the U23 Asian Cup and almost got a ticket to the Olympics."

U23 Indonesia could not qualify for the U23 Asian Cup (Photo: PSSI).

Kompas newspaper said that U23 Vietnam and U23 Thailand are the leading flags of youth football in Southeast Asia as they regularly participate in the U23 Asian tournament. Meanwhile, U23 Indonesia can no longer maintain the form that helped them reach the semi-finals of the U23 Asian tournament in 2024.

Bola Sport newspaper emphasized: “The Indonesian Football Federation has paid a heavy price for the decision to fire coach Shin Tae Yong. The quality and performance of U23 Indonesia under coach Gerald Vanenburg are extremely poor. From a team that reached the semi-finals of the U23 Asian Cup, now U23 Indonesia is just a spectator of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese football has had stable development at the youth level. They have always maintained good results, regardless of which coach they are led by.

The 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals will take place in Saudi Arabia from January 7-25, 2026. Vietnam U23 is in the second seed group with South Korea U23, Australia U23 and Qatar U23.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-indonesia-noi-loi-that-long-so-sanh-doi-nha-voi-u23-viet-nam-20250910174521364.htm