U.23 Vietnam will explode at the U.23 Asian Cup: Dreaming of the miracle in Changzhou

U.23 Vietnam reached the quarter-finals in the last 2 AFC U.23 Championships, so what about this time?

U.23 Vietnam is not easy to defeat

Vietnam U23 has won the ticket to the U23 Asian tournament for the 6th consecutive time. 3 victories against Bangladesh U23 (2-0), Singapore U23 (1-0) and Yemen U23 (1-0) helped coach Kim Sang-sik and his team to participate in the biggest youth football tournament in Asia, where Vietnam U23 will have at least 3 group stage matches to compete and mature.

Winning tickets to the U.23 Asian tournament for the past 9 years (from 2016 to present) once again affirms the stability of Vietnamese youth football.

Will U.23 Vietnam create an earthquake in Asia?

PHOTO: MINH TU

Regardless of ups and downs, U.23 Vietnam still has a ticket to the final round, equivalent to entering the top 16 of Asia. The silver medal in 2018, along with 2 quarter-finals (2022, 2024) are all the most impressive achievements, only behind the top football nations such as Korea, Japan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan or Australia.

Notably, in the last two finals, U.23 Vietnam reached the quarter-finals. In both tournaments, the team was led by "seasonal" coaches. After the tournament ended, the coaches also left.

In 2022, Mr. Gong Oh-kyun was appointed to lead U.23 Vietnam. In just 2 months of training, the Korean strategist created an undefeated team against U.23 Korea and U.23 Thailand to pass the group stage. U.23 Vietnam only stopped before U.23 Saudi Arabia, the team that then went straight to the championship with a perfect record.

U.23 Vietnam played freely, attacked quickly and at speed thanks to the 4-3-3 formula of coach Gong Oh-kyun. The Korean coach not only breathed new life into the team, but also reinforced the belief that U.23 Vietnam can compete on equal terms with the strongest teams in the continent, if they are confident enough and have the right tactics.

After 2 years, Coach Hoang Anh Tuan repeated the quarter-final achievement with U.23 Vietnam. Mr. Tuan only needed half a month to prepare to take the team through the Asian group stage. U.23 Vietnam lost to U.23 Iraq, who later won third place to win a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

U.23 Vietnam (white shirt) is a pragmatic and united team.

PHOTO: MINH TU

In both of these finals, U.23 Vietnam only lost to very strong opponents (champion or top 3), with acceptable performance. Both coaches Gong Oh-kyun and Hoang Anh Tuan only had less than 2 months to train and assemble the team, but still brought the team to the top 8 of the continent.

Meanwhile, Coach Kim Sang-sik had a much longer and more thorough preparation process, when he and U.23 Vietnam competed in the U.23 Southeast Asia tournament, the Asian qualifiers and the SEA Games (not to mention the training sessions for the youth in the national team).

With half a year of preparation, why can't U.23 Vietnam expect better results, like reaching the semi-finals or repeating the miracle of Changzhou like in 2018?

Dream beyond the threshold

To date, the runner-up position of U.23 Asia 2018 is still an unprecedented achievement in the history of Vietnamese football.

Entering the tournament after having just experienced the shock of being eliminated in the group stage of the SEA Games, Coach Park Hang-seo's team overcame the "death group" with Korea, Australia and Syria, then continued with Iraq and Qatar in the quarter-finals and semi-finals on penalties, to write the most beautiful story in more than a decade of existence of the U.23 Asian playground.

The resilient performance in Changzhou came from many factors appearing at the same time, such as the generation of players who have been "tested" through many difficulties and failures, so they have a steely spirit, the reasonable strategy of coach Park Hang-seo, the excellent performance of individuals, and luck.

To be a miracle, it always requires both favorable time, favorable location and favorable people. U.23 Vietnam at this time cannot know whether favorable time and favorable location are available or not. Coach Kim Sang-sik can only hope for favorable people, where the players are growing up with each match.

Is luck on Mr. Kim's side?

PHOTO: MINH TU

The Korean strategist owns a generation of players with good physique (8 players are over 1.8 m tall, taller than the senior generation), with high determination to fight. Some faces have been honed in the national team, V-League and shown progress such as Dinh Bac, Van Khang.

The playing style of U.23 Vietnam at this time also reminds of the miracle of Thuong Chau, with a "steel" defense maintained by high discipline, along with the ability to circulate the ball quickly and counterattack well. U.23 Vietnam may be as difficult to win as "splitting bamboo", but it is not easy to defeat.

A difficult "bundle of chopsticks" is being formed, thanks to the pragmatism and fierce ability to inspire that Mr. Kim is lighting.

The preparation process is taking place right now. U.23 Vietnam must make great efforts to reach the miracle, but keep trying. There is a way to go, even if the path is arduous, requiring Mr. Kim and his team to try even harder.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-viet-nam-se-bung-no-o-vck-u23-chau-a-mo-ve-ky-tich-thuong-chau-185250912211451441.htm