U.22 Vietnam benefits again?

Accordingly, instead of dividing into 2 groups, each group has 5-6 teams like the previous SEA Games, at SEA Games 33, the men's football content can be divided into 3 groups, each group has 3-4 U.22 teams. According to General Director of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) Kongsak Yodmanee, this change is to "reduce the load" for the players, avoiding them from competing with a dense schedule at the Southeast Asian Games.

Mr. Kim wants to win the 33rd SEA Games

The method of dividing the SEA Games men's football groups may change significantly, will Vietnamese football benefit?

Modern trend, Olympic learning?

Previously, with the method of dividing into 2 groups, each group has 5-6 teams, each men's football team participating in the SEA Games will play 4-5 group stage matches. With the new proposed method of dividing into groups, each group has 3-4 teams, each team participating in the SEA Games men's football event will only play 2-3 group stage matches. This is the method of dividing into groups that appeared in football, at the Olympics, following the trend of players playing as few matches as possible.

Similar to the proposal to reduce the age of participating in the SEA Games from U.23 to U.22 for players participating in the men's football event, the proposal on the new division method will be met and decided by the Southeast Asian Sports Council in the coming time. However, the voice of the host country of the 33rd SEA Games, Thailand, always has considerable weight.

Reducing the number of matches for teams in the group stage will first reduce the number of formality matches. For example, matches between top teams in the region such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and bottom teams such as Brunei or Timor Leste always end with a very high gap. The stronger teams play fewer matches against such weak opponents, the better. At the same time, reducing the number of matches for each team in the group stage will help players save energy and avoid overload.

For the U.22 Vietnam players (expected age to participate in the 33rd SEA Games in 2025), playing fewer matches will help the players have more time to rest before the SEA Games, and have more time to recover before the medal competition stage at the SEA Games. As for the VFF and VPF, the fewer matches the U.22 Vietnam team plays at the Southeast Asian Games, the more favorable the arrangement of domestic tournament schedules will be.

In addition to changing the age and competition format of the men's football event at the 33rd SEA Games, the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) also proposed to SAT to change the competition venue for football in general (including 4 events: men's football, women's football, men's futsal and women's futsal). Accordingly, the outer round matches of football can take place outside Bangkok (expected in Songkhla province). However, when it comes to the medal competition stage, football will be moved to Bangkok. In particular, the semi-final matches of men's football will take place at Rajamangala Stadium in the capital of the land of golden temples.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thay-doi-lon-ve-the-thuc-thi-dau-sea-games-u22-viet-nam-lai-huong-loi-185250125111121323.htm