Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh congratulates U.23 Vietnam on historic feat: 'Emotional victory!'

Vietnam U23 won 1-0 against Indonesia in the final of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, winning the championship for the third time. Cong Phuong scored the only goal of the match, helping coach Kim Sang-sik's team successfully defend the title.

Immediately after the match, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan to congratulate the U.23 Vietnam team for making a historic miracle. The Prime Minister praised the U.23 Vietnam team for their emotional victory.

The Prime Minister also sent a letter to the Vietnam U.23 team. In the letter, the Prime Minister expressed his emotions and sent the warmest congratulations to the entire Vietnam U.23 football team, the coaching staff, the VFF and fans nationwide after the resounding victory of the Vietnam U.23 football team, winning the U.23 Southeast Asian Championship for the third consecutive time.

This victory continues to affirm the leading position of Vietnamese youth football in the region, and is also a clear demonstration of the bravery, talent, team spirit and aspiration to reach new heights of the young players wearing the national flag.

The Prime Minister emphasized that throughout the competition, the players demonstrated a resilient fighting spirit, confidence, calmness and steadfastness, creating emotional moments, adding confidence, pride and strong inspiration to millions of Vietnamese people at home and abroad.

This victory is not only an outstanding sporting achievement but also a symbol of the will to rise and the constant efforts of Vietnamese youth - the generation that is continuing the dream of reaching out to the continental and world arenas.

The Prime Minister especially thanked millions of fans nationwide who have always accompanied, stood by and been a solid support for the team throughout its journey to conquer the highest position of the U23 region.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to coordinate with relevant agencies to promptly reward and encourage the players, coaching staff and the team. The Prime Minister hopes that the players will continue to train, maintain their form, be united, modest and further promote the successes they have achieved.

VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan shared his emotion: "The U.23 Vietnam team played very well, with great spirit. The U.23 Vietnam team defeated U.23 Thailand in Cambodia to win the first championship, defeated U.23 Indonesia in Thailand to win the second championship, and this time, defeated U.23 Indonesia right in Indonesia. It's wonderful."

VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan awarded the Best Player of the tournament award to Dinh Bac.

U.23 Vietnam conceded the game, waiting for the opportunity

Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on the evening of July 29 was filled with red and of course the number of fans of the home team Indonesia was overwhelming. Playing on this "fire pan" has never been easy for any away team and the final match of the U.23 Southeast Asia 2025 was "hot" from the first minutes.

Coach Kim Sang-sik has deployed the same lineup as the semi-final match against U.23 Philippines. Dinh Bac is tasked with leading the attack while goalkeeper Trung Kien continues to be trusted to guard the U.23 Vietnam goal.

Review of the final match between U.23 Vietnam and U.23 Indonesia: Despite conceding the game, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team still won the championship

Coach Kim Sang-sik fielded the same lineup as the semi-final match.

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

Meanwhile, naturalized striker Jens Raven - also the most dangerous striker of U.23 Indonesia - was in the starting lineup even though he was injured in the semi-final match. Thus, both sides had almost the strongest lineup when facing each other in the most important match of the tournament.

U.23 Indonesia entered the match confidently and played quite aggressively.

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

In the 5th minute, Raven showed his fearsomeness by choosing a favorable, comfortable position to head the ball close to the goal, but luckily for U.23 Vietnam, the ball flew over the bar.

Jens Raven (shirt number 21) is the home team's most dangerous striker.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

Hannan received the first yellow card of the match.

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

As stated by the President of the Indonesian Football Federation before the match, the home team was ready to play tough and from the beginning of the first half they continuously received cards for fouls. In the 10th minute, referee Pansa, after checking VAR, gave a yellow card to Rauhan Hannan of Indonesia for a rough tackle on Khuat Van Khang. Only 4 minutes later, the home team continued to receive a yellow card for a very rough shirt pull by captain Kadek Arel.

In the 25th minute, from a corner kick, Van Truong had a skillful header but still lacked a bit of accuracy to open the score. This was also the most notable attack of U.23 Vietnam since the beginning of the match.

In the 29th minute, the U.23 Vietnam defense made a mistake, Nhat Minh hesitated to approach, allowing Jens Raven to get the ball and have a comfortable space to face the goalkeeper, but fortunately Raven's shot was a bit weak and goalkeeper Trung Kien played with concentration. Immediately after that, Trung Kien continued to play the hero with a decisive run to end the double attack of U.23 Indonesia.

In the 32nd minute, U.23 Vietnam received the first yellow card because Pham Ly Duc blocked the home team's sideline attack.

Pham Ly Duc received a yellow card for his excessive tackling.

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

By the 37th minute, U.23 Vietnam showed how dangerous we were despite giving the initiative to our opponents. Dinh Bac took a corner kick and the ball went through two touches before reaching Cong Phuong's feet and this midfielder fired a decisive shot to open the score for U.23 Vietnam.

Cong Phuong (shirt number 18) opened the score of the match

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

Being behind, the home team players seemed to lose their composure. In the 42nd minute, although Indonesia's number 19 player committed the first foul, the white shirt players then rushed in to provoke the U.23 Vietnam players, leading to a chaotic situation that forced the referee to intervene.

The two teams left the field for halftime with a 1-goal advantage in favor of coach Kim Sang-sik and his team.

Messy situation at the end of the first half

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

U.23 Indonesia pushed up the formation to find an equalizer

In the second half, the home team Indonesia proactively raised their formation with consecutive attacks to find an equalizer.

U.23 Indonesia proactively raised the squad to find an equalizer.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

In the 54th minute, the two teams clashed again after Anh Quan fouled the home team player, resulting in a yellow card. Dinh Bac's neck had many scratches after this mess, the referee checked VAR but did not issue another card.

Right at the beginning of the second half, players from both teams continued to rush at each other.

Dong Nguyen Khang

Dong Nguyen Khang

Coach Kim Sang-sik immediately ran over to stop the hot heads from provoking each other.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

In the 69th minute, Van Khang and hero Cong Phuong left the field to make way for Le Viktor and Van Thuan. The captain's armband was handed over by Van Khang to Ly Duc.

Van Thuan was brought onto the field in the second half with Le Viktor.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

In the following minutes, U.23 Vietnam focused on resolving the opponent's set pieces. Coach Kim Sang-sik's players played as expected, defending tightly and counter-attacking quickly when given the chance. Although Indonesia continued to press the field, confidence in their playing style and a goal in their pocket helped U.23 Vietnam maintain their position in the game, while minimizing pressure from the home team.

Jens Raven (number 21) continues to be the striker that the U.23 Vietnam defense "takes care" of the most.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

In the 85th minute, Anh Quan handled the ball clumsily and committed a foul, opening up an opportunity for U.23 Indonesia when they were awarded a free kick just outside the 16m50 box. However, Arkhan's free kick sent the ball over the crossbar of goalkeeper Trung Kien's goal.

The final minutes of extra time were very tense with consecutive yellow cards and then red cards for coaching staff of both teams. It was not until the 90+10 minute that the referee blew the whistle to end the match even though the second half was initially only allowed 5 minutes of extra time.

In the end, U.23 Vietnam won 1-0 to become the U.23 Southeast Asian champion for the third time. This is also the first title of coach Kim Sang-sik with the youth team of Vietnamese football. An emotional journey ended with a well-deserved victory for the Golden Star Warriors.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cong-phuong-toa-sang-ruc-ro-u23-viet-nam-len-ngo-vuong-lan-ba-ky-tich-lich-su-185250729205427802.htm