Coach Hoang Anh Tuan: "Indonesian football is not strong at the U23 age group"

(Dan Tri) - Coach Hoang Anh Tuan assessed that U23 Vietnam had a good tournament with the U23 Southeast Asian championship, and at the same time he commented that Indonesian football is not strong at the U23 age group.

The Vietnam U23 team won the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship on July 29, successfully defending the trophy we won in two previous consecutive tournaments, in 2022 and 2023.

One of the two coaches who helped U23 Vietnam win the two tournaments mentioned above is Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan, who led U23 Vietnam to win the tournament in 2023 in Thailand. Mr. Tuan assessed that coach Kim Sang Sik's team in the tournament that just ended was very stable in terms of tactics.

From now until the 33rd SEA Games in December, in theory we can be even stronger, because in the 22-year-old age group, Vietnamese football still has many promising faces. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan talks with Dan Tri reporter.

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan leads U23 Vietnam to win the Southeast Asian championship in 2023 (Photo: Do ​​Minh Quan).

Stable in terms of tactics

There is a view that when opponents do not use naturalized players, Vietnamese teams play more easily and can take the top position in Southeast Asia. Is the current success of the U23 Vietnam team a proof?

- First, it must be affirmed that Vietnamese youth football has potential, we have a good source of players trained by ourselves. However, success in the U23 Southeast Asia tournament depends on many different factors, not just because the opponent rarely uses naturalized players.

Subjectively, the U23 Vietnam team had a stable strategy throughout the tournament. Our playing style was clear and our intentions were clear. Therefore, the pieces of the U23 Vietnam team, when placed into the overall system of the team, easily performed the head coach's intentions.

U23 Vietnam won the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship (Photo: VFF).

Objectively, U23 Vietnam enjoys a very favorable match schedule. We play one match less than our opponent Indonesia. U23 Vietnam plays 4 matches during the tournament, which is beneficial for our physical strength.

U23 Vietnam is in the same group with weaker teams including Laos and Cambodia, which also helps us easily calculate the playing style and personnel. Coach Kim Sang Sik can easily rotate personnel for the long-term campaign.

Which match did U23 Vietnam most clearly demonstrate the stability in terms of tactics mentioned above, sir?

- It was the final. It wasn't perfect, but it was our best game of the tournament. Our intentions were clear.

When we need to play solidly and cautiously, the whole team plays very cautiously, with a 5-defender formation. When we need to play close and press, U23 Vietnam presses and puts good pressure on the opponent. In addition, when we need to put pressure at a high level on the opponent's field, we can do it too.

In my opinion, this is the right calculation of coach Kim Sang Sik. If U23 Vietnam did not play cautiously, we hastily pushed up the attacking formation from start to finish, we might have lost to the high spirit of U23 Indonesia.

Southeast Asian football shows its cards before SEA Games

What about U23 Indonesia, how did this team perform? Could they be the main opponent of U23 Vietnam at the 33rd SEA Games taking place later this year?

- The Indonesian U23 team is not as strong as their national team. The young team of the archipelago does not play very differently. They mainly play long balls. Furthermore, the naturalized player Jens Raven of the Indonesian U23 team does not play high balls very well. Jens Raven himself missed a good chance at the beginning of the match, he headed wide from close range.

The crosses and throw-ins of U23 Indonesia are also old. These throw-ins have been used over and over again for many years and have been recognized by opponents.

U23 Indonesia lacked breakthroughs against U23 Vietnam (Photo: VFF).

I have also talked about Indonesian football throw-ins many times, and how to prevent such throw-ins. In the recent final match, U23 Vietnam successfully neutralized U23 Indonesia's throw-ins.

After the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament, opponents will certainly study U23 Vietnam. They may even add naturalized players for the 33rd SEA Games. How do you evaluate this?

- At this age, whether or not the opponent has naturalized foreign players is not the deciding factor in their strength. We have witnessed the reality that in Southeast Asian football in recent years, the younger the naturalized players, the less scary they are. Naturalized players at young ages are nothing special.

It is normal for opponents to study the U23 Vietnam team. We ourselves are capable of change, so opponents studying us is not the deciding factor in success or failure at the SEA Games.

At the upcoming SEA Games, U23 Vietnam can add personnel. In the current 22-year-old generation of Vietnamese football, many people were not present at the recent U23 Southeast Asian tournament. This list includes Duc Viet, Hong Phuc, Nam Hai, Manh Hung, Xuan Tien, Duc Phu...

Many of them have experience competing in previous international tournaments such as the Southeast Asian U23 tournament or the Asian U20 tournament. We still have many faces who can supplement our force when needed.

Points for improvement

As for the weaknesses, what weaknesses does U23 Vietnam need to improve for the upcoming tournaments, sir?

- Honestly, our defense is not really solid. Especially in the final match, we still left gaps behind the defenders, allowing the opponent to exploit.

Above, I mentioned the situation where naturalized player Jens Raven headed the ball wide from close range. In addition, there were a number of other situations where goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien had to rush out to block one-on-one situations, or clear the ball out of Indonesian players' control.

U23 Vietnam can be even stronger at SEA Games 33 (Photo: VFF).

Obviously in that final match, U23 Indonesia still had opportunities that could have turned into goals, but they missed. That detail reflects that U23 Vietnam's defense still has gaps.

And in attack, will the forward line of the U23 Vietnam team achieve the expected sharpness?

- We cannot deny the fact that we lack a real striker in this year's tournament. No player has clearly played the role of the team's main striker throughout the tournament.

That is the reason why one of the two players who scored the most goals for U23 Vietnam at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament is a central defender (Nguyen Hieu Minh has the same two goals as striker Nguyen Dinh Bac).

Coach Kim Sang Sik once experimented with Viktor Le and Nguyen Phi Hoang playing high up as strikers, but they were not successful. The above players are not real strikers. We hope that in the future this will be improved, we will add more human resources and can be stronger in the future.

Thank you for the conversation!

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/hlv-hoang-anh-tuan-bong-da-indonesia-khong-manh-o-lua-tuoi-u23-20250731002307696.htm