Experts point out the weaknesses of U23 Vietnam; Liverpool wins FA Cup

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam presents gold medal to Nguyen Thi Oanh

Track and field athlete Nguyen Thi Oanh was honored to receive the gold medal from Deputy Prime Minister - Head of the 31st SEA Games Steering Committee Vu Duc Dam after setting a record in the women's 5,000m race. This was also the second individual gold medal of the day (May 14), won by the runner from Bac Giang at the 31st SEA Games. In the morning competition, Oanh easily won the women's 1,500m race, when no opponent could keep up with her lightning-fast running steps.

Nguyen Thi Oanh continued to maintain her brilliant form in the afternoon competition, 5,000m distance, the event in which Oanh holds the SEA Games record, which she set 3 years ago in the Philippines.

Also competing in this event, Vietnam athletics had Pham Thi Hong Le. The girl from Binh Dinh coordinated extremely well with her teammate Nguyen Thi Oanh, creating powerful runs. The two Vietnamese runners even caught many opponents on the track.

Deputy Prime Minister - Head of the National Steering Committee for SEA Games 31 Vu Duc Dam visited athletes after the women's 5,000m final. Photo: Quy Luong

With a strong sprint in the last 100m, Nguyen Thi Oanh successfully defended her gold medal with a time of 16:44”06. Hong Le won the silver medal and the bronze medal went to Joida Ganao (Philippines).

At SEA Games 31, Nguyen Thi Oanh still has a goal of defending the gold medal in the women's 3,000m steeplechase.

Before the second gold medal went to Nguyen Thi Oanh, Vietnamese athletics also defended the men's 1,500m championship, with Luu Phuoc Duc scoring a time of 3'54"37. Tran Van Dang won a silver medal. Previously, the men's 1,500m gold medal at the 30th SEA Games was scored by Duong Van Thai. In the men's 100m, Ngan Ngoc Nghia won a bronze medal.

In the men's javelin throw, Nguyen Van Hoai also won the championship with a score of 70.87m. However, the Long An athlete's achievement was still lower than his own national record of 73.18m. Previously, Van Hoai had competed unsuccessfully at the 2017 and 2019 SEA Games.

Unfortunately, in the mixed 4x400m relay, the quartet of Tran Nhat Hoang - Nguyen Thi Huyen - Quach Thi Lan - Tran Dinh Son could not defend their gold medal when they lost to Thailand in the final meters.

At the end of the first day of competition, Vietnamese athletics won a total of 4 gold medals; 4 silver medals; 1 bronze medal, aiming to win more than 16 gold medals to defend the overall top position.

Experts point out the weaknesses of U23 Vietnam, Mr. Park still has no solution to overcome them

Lack of creativity in the attack is one of the aspects that needs improvement in the playing style of U23 Vietnam at the tournament.SEA Games 31. After a big win over U23 Indonesia 3-0 on the opening day, U23 Vietnam played very hard in the following two matches against U23 Philippines and U23 Myanmar. Coach Park Hang-seo's team let U23 Philippines hold them to a 0-0 draw, then struggled to overcome U23 Myanmar.by Hung Dung's brilliance.

Analyzing the 0-0 draw with U23 Philippines, expert Phan Anh Tu said that the attack line did not play sharp enough. More precisely, the ability to take advantage of opportunities of U23 Vietnam was not good.

“In reality, it is not that we do not have opportunities, U23 Vietnam has at least 4-5 situations where we can score. However, I think that the young players' impatience and lack of experience have caused the final moves to lack precision,” commented expert Phan Anh Tu. According to Mr. Phan Anh Tu, U23 Vietnam also encountered difficulties against the opponent's proactive, deep defensive style of play, limiting the ball handling space.

Coach Park Hang-seo needs more solutions for the attack of the Vietnam U23 Team: Photo: Referee

Another issue is the ability to take advantage of opportunities from set pieces. According to Mr. Phan Anh Tu, U23 Vietnam has defenders with good height and good aerial skills like Bui Hoang Viet Anh, so if they take advantage of direct free kicks and high balls, especially step 2, it can be effective.

The 1-0 victory over U23 Myanmar has helped U23 Vietnam put one foot in the semi-finals. However, going forward, experts believe that coach Park Hang-seo will have to spend time improving the attacking ability of the front line. In particular, over-reliance on the3 over-age players Hoang Duc - Hung Dung and Tien Linh while the rest are playing below their potential will prevent U23 Vietnam from forming a truly strong team.

Veteran journalist Nguyen Luu commented, Coach Park Hang-seoThere needs to be a solution to stimulate a stronger fighting spirit as well as a comfortable playing mentality for the players. If the young players cannot stay alert, U23 Vietnam will find it difficult to show their best performance. Meanwhile, the further they go, the bigger the challenge their opponents will create.

“When facing teams with disciplined and well-organized playing styles, U23 Vietnam may encounter difficulties. In particular, the playing style and the team's personnel no longer surprise the opponent. However, I think we should not be too pessimistic. Because U23 Vietnam has problems, the opponents also have their problems. The important thing is that we have a reasonable plan against each opponent" - journalist Nguyen Luu said.

U23 Malaysia coach: "Every team wants to avoid U23 Vietnam"

Coach Brad Maloney said that avoiding host U23 Vietnam is what every team aims for if they want to go far in SEA Games 31.

"Of course, U23 Malaysia wants to avoid the home team. They have many quality players in the squad and receive enthusiastic cheers from the audience. If aiming for the highest goal, any team would want to avoidU23 Vietnam", Coach Maloney shared after the 2-2 draw with U23 Singapore on the afternoon of May 14.

"I'm quite sorry that we couldn't get all 3 points. Securing the top spot in the group will help U23 Malaysia have many advantages to enter the semi-finals. However, that's football and we have to accept it. Now, we need to prepare best for the confrontation with U23 Cambodia," the Australian strategist added.

U23 Malaysia is still at the top of Group B with 7 points and is likely to enter the semi-finals. However, coach Maloney has not yet thought about the opponents in Group A.

"We just want to think about the next match with Cambodia. Preparing well for this match will also help us get ready for the semi-finals. Group A is a tough group, because U23 Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar are all strong," said coach Maloney.

U23 Malaysia has a good chance of entering the semi-finals.

With the unfortunate draw against U23 Malaysia, coach Nazri Nasir and his team no longer have the right to decide in group B. The captain of U23 Singapore could not hide his disappointment.

"I want to apologize to Singapore fans. After this tournament, I hope the players will be more mature. We had a lot of difficulties when only 4-5 players could play with concentration for the whole 90 minutes. This is football and I have to accept the draw. Anyway, I am proud of my players," said coach Nasir.

Defeating Chelsea in penalty shootout, Liverpool won FA Cup

After 120 minutes of play ended in a 0-0 draw, Liverpool beat Chelsea 6-5 in a penalty shootout to win the 2021/2022 FA Cup.

Liverpool entered the match with great enthusiasm and continuously put pressure on Chelsea in the first 15 minutes of the final. However, Luis Diaz and his teammates continued to shoot unluckily. And when Mohamed Salah suddenly had to leave the field due to injury in the 33rd minute, the Kop's spirit was reduced.

Chelsea started the game shakily but created two of the best chances in the first half. However, Christian Pulisic's shot went wide and Marcos Alonso missed a one-on-one with goalkeeper Alisson.

In the second half, both sides were extremely unlucky. Marcos Alonso's free kick hit the crossbar for Chelsea, while Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota consecutively hit the post for Liverpool.

Liverpool won the 2021/2022 FA Cup. Photo: Reuters

The 0-0 draw remained until the end of 90 official minutes, then 30 minutes of extra time, forcing both sides to enter a nerve-wracking penalty shootout to determine the winner.

Liverpool won 6-5 in the "shootout" when only Sadio Mane missed, while Chelsea had Cesar Azpilicueta and Mason Mount fail. Liverpool became the 2021/2022 FA Cup champion. This is also the first FA Cup championship of The Kop under coach Jurgen Klopp.