Korean press unexpectedly praises U23 Vietnam

At the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, Coach Park Hang Seo’s U23 Vietnam team is in Group D with U23 Korea, U23 Australia and U23 Syria. In the opening match, the U23 Vietnam team will face U23 Korea.

This is the opponent that coach Park Hang Seo said he wanted to make a miracle in the tournament, specifically winning against his fellow countryman, despite the huge gap in skill level between U23 Korea and U23 Vietnam.

Korean press highly appreciates U23 Vietnam.

As if wanting to encourage coach Park Hang Seo and his team, Korean writer Jung Jae Eun also recently wrote an article in FourFourTwo magazine, talking about the red team's ability to create surprises is not small.

“Both Mr. Park and assistant Lee Young-jin - who attended two World Cups in 1990 and 1994 while playing for the Korean national team - have experience competing in the world's top arena, the World Cup.

They will help the Vietnamese players enter the big matches in the best way. In Korea, both Mr. Park and Mr. Lee are known for their passion for pursuing a style of play with few touches and quick forward passes. Both like to play total football. They are capable of helping the U23 Vietnamese players play strong football for 90 minutes," Jung Jae Eun wrote.

In particular, when evaluating the opening match of U23 Vietnam at the 2018 U23 Asian Cup finals against runner-up U23 Korea, FourFourTwo's writer commented: "U23 Vietnam made a strong impression with their intelligent and technical playing style. If they can improve their physical strength and determine a strong mindset in the upcoming match, U23 Vietnam can completely create a surprise against U23 Korea."

Contrary to the opinion of the Korean reporter, from the coach to the players of the Kim Chi country, everyone showed contempt for the U23 Vietnam team.

Speaking on the Korea Football Association website, South Korea U23 captain Hwang Hyun-soo said: “In a group with Vietnam, Syria, Australia, frankly I think Korea cannot lose. If everyone is united, I believe we will be strong enough to continue. We want to focus on our team, not our opponents.”

Meanwhile, coach Kim Bong Gil even revealed the playing style he will use in the match against U23 Vietnam: “The main formation is 4-2-3-1, which can be changed to 4-1-2-3 depending on whether I have 1 or 2 defensive midfielders or I can also play with 3 defenders. U23 Vietnam has quite good players in the attack, but that is not a big problem.”