Vietnam U19 team beat Laos in farewell match of U19 Southeast Asia tournament

On the afternoon of July 24, the U19 Vietnam team had their final match against U19 Laos in the group stage of the U19 Southeast Asian Championship. Both teams were eliminated early, so the players will play a beautiful match before saying goodbye to the tournament.

In all aspects, U19 Vietnam is clearly rated higher in terms of both strength and achievements in the tournament. Victory is extremely necessary for coach Hua Hien Vinh and his team at this time, helping the players relieve the pressure from the last two matches, aiming for the 2025 U20 Asian qualifiers.

In the first minutes of the match, U19 Vietnam showed great determination and immediately invaded the U19 Laos field. In the 5th minute, from a not-so-dangerous situation, the U19 Laos goalkeeper rushed out indecisively, creating an opportunity for Le Dinh Long Vu (number 7) to steal the ball and pass it to Hoang Anh to finish into the empty net to open the score of the match.

In the 22nd minute, Hoang Quang Dung continued to impress with long-range shots. The young midfielder swung his leg from about 20 meters away, sending the ball straight into the top corner. The Laos U19 goalkeeper jumped as far as he could but was still unable to block the shot, raising the score to 2-0 for Vietnam U19. This was Quang Dung's third goal in three consecutive matches, especially since all of his goals came from outside the penalty area.

While playing well, coach Hua Hien Vinh's players made a mistake, something they could not overcome in the last 2 matches. In the 27th minute, Quoc Khanh passed the ball back too carelessly, Peter of U19 Laos rushed down to steal the ball, passed goalkeeper Dinh Hai and finished into the empty net, shortening the score to 1-2.

In the following minutes, U19 Vietnam continuously created many opportunities but all the good face-offs were wasted by the players. Thai Ba Dat shot into the sky in an open position, while Le Dinh Long Vu could not beat the opposing team's goalkeeper in a face-off in the 45th minute.

Entering the second half, the U19 Laos players played more slowly and steadily. This tactic caused the U19 Vietnam team to be completely stuck in the ball deployment phase. By the 70th minute, according to statistics from the organizing committee, the ball control ratio of both sides was 50-50. This parameter shows that the U19 Vietnam team did not completely overwhelm the opponent. However, with a better technical foundation, the students of coach Hua Hien Vinh still knew how to solve the match.

In the 78th minute, Captain Cong Phuong suddenly entered the penalty area, skillfully eliminated the U19 Laos defender and fired a decisive shot to raise the score to 3-1. Not stopping there, 5 minutes later, Cong Phuong completed his brilliant performance by passing the ball to Phung Van Nam to tap in from close range, setting the score at 4-1 for U19 Vietnam.

Thus, U19 Vietnam ended the U19 Southeast Asian tournament with 4 points after the group stage and was eliminated early. This victory could be a stepping stone towards the 2025 U20 Asian qualifiers./.