Korean newspaper believes coach Park Hang-seo and his team will win tickets to the quarter-finals

1. Before the matches in Group C took place, the Korean people were still full of anxiety when the prospect of two West Asian teams could join hands with a draw with goals to eliminate U23 Vietnam. The Korean people also fully understood that after the success at SEA Games 30, Mr. Park was facing many difficulties due to not having satisfactory players when traveling to Thailand.
   

When Mr. Park is in trouble

"The key is that U23 Vietnam needs to focus on the match with U23 North Korea," said SportQ from South Korea. Photo AT

The Vietnamese people's high expectations for the SEA Games 30 gold medal have made it difficult for Mr. Park to conquer the 2020 AFC U23 Championship to earn a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In addition to the difference in form, the playing style and personnel of the U23 Vietnam team have also been exposed to opponents. Although in the 2 group stage matches, he has changed the personnel of all 3 lines, the playing style of the U23 Vietnam team has not been as expected.

Before the match against Uzbekistan U23, the Korean U23 players had 6 points after 2 matches and became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals. In fact, coach Kim Hak-Bum had left some key players to rest, but the Korean reserve players did not play lightly. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan U23 was still uncertain of advancing, so they had to field their strongest lineup in the 10th meeting. In the previous 9 confrontations, Uzbekistan U23 lost 5, drew only 4, and had never won against Korea U23.

Scoring in the 5th minute, and being equalized by U23 Uzbekistan 1-1 16 minutes later, in theory this score was enough for U23 Korea to win Group C. But coach Kim Hak-Bum still decided to attack to score a goal by sending number 10 Lee Dong-gyeong onto the field. ResultU23 Korea won 2-1, becoming the number 1 candidate for the championship after the group stage with 3 wins, scoring 9 points, with 5 goals, conceding only 2 goals.

According to the draw, the second team in Group D will have to face U23 Korea, who are in very good form, in the quarterfinals. Obviously, if they join hands in a draw scenario, U23 Jordan will be at a disadvantage because as the second team in Group D, they will soon have to face the strongest team in the 2020 AFC U23 Championship. Of course, that makes the opportunity to have a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics seem to close.

The brother has taken action

There will be many changes in the match against U23 North Korea. Photo: VFF

That means, if they want to avoid U23 Korea, there is no other way, Jordan players will fight to the death with U23 UAE to win the first place in Group D to "choose to meet" U23 Uzbekistan, with a much better chance of advancing. So the Korean people think that although he did not say it, coach Kim Hak-Bum indirectly threw out a "rescue" buoy, which is not wrong.

Even the Korean newspaper SportQ emphasized that U23 Vietnam needs to focus on the match against North Korea, instead of thinking about the Jordan - UAE match: "The key is that U23 Vietnam needs to focus on the match against U23 North Korea, solve the problem of scoring goals and winning."

“If they are distracted by the result of the remaining match, the price to pay could be very high. North Korea U23 is a strong team and plays very disciplined. If they reach the quarter-finals, Vietnam U23 will most likely meet South Korea U23.”

In the title of the article "What are the chances for U23 Vietnam?", the Korean author expressed optimism that coach Park Hang-seo and his team will win tickets to the quarterfinals. If this happens, it will be an interesting meeting, although this is something that Mr. Park himself admitted before flying to Thailand that he did not want at all.

Simply, he is Korean, does not want to lead the team against his home team, moreover, facing the championship candidate early in the quarter-finals is something no coach wants. But for now, perhaps Mr. Park and his students need to do something more practical, win against U23 North Korea.