Vietnam U23 attack and coach Hoang Anh Tuan's expectations

Compared to the time of winning the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, coach Hoang Anh Tuan now has a much more combative squad with many students playing in the V-League and the Vietnam national team. That is the basis for them to be able to impress U23 Vietnam in the 2024 Asian U23 Finals.

Last year, coach Hoang Anh Tuan won the Southeast Asian U23 Championship with U23 Vietnam with strikers such as Quoc Viet (Hoang Anh Gia Lai), Minh Quang (currently playing for Binh Thuan First Division Club instead of SHB Da Nang), Vi Hao (B.Binh Duong), Long Vu (Song Lam Nghe An), Huu Tuan (Viettel) and Dinh Duy (SHB Da Nang).

At that time, coach Hoang Anh Tuan could not call all the experienced players to compete in the tournament in Thailand. And Long Vu and Huu Tuan were U20 talents, summoned to learn and prepare for the future of the Vietnamese national teams.

At the present time, coach Hoang Anh Tuan is given maximum conditions to call up the best players he desires to go to Qatar to participate in the continental tournament. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan called back the students who he assessed as having stable performance, namely Quoc Viet, Minh Quang and Vi Hao. The three new names are Van Tung (Hanoi FC), Dinh Bac (Quang Nam) and Nguyen Hoang (Thanh Hoa).

Among them, Van Tung and Dinh Bac have also been called up to the Vietnam national team. They are among the most experienced players in the U23 Vietnam team at the moment. Nguyen Hoang is also experienced in the V-League when he has played for a series of clubs such as Saigon FC and Thanh Hoa.

In the 2024 U23 Asian Cup finals, U23 Vietnam is expected to reap the same success as in 2018. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan's students are now considered to be in the prime of their careers.

In every position, the former coach of Khanh Hoa has stars who have been with the Vietnamese youth teams through many big tournaments. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan also led them on a "trial" at the 2023 Asian Games in China, a tournament to prepare the U23 Vietnam team with the goal of causing a surprise in Qatar this year.

To do so, the attack line will be the place where coach Hoang Anh Tuan needs to hone the most. Among the strikers called, most are eager to show themselves after an unpleasant time at the Club.

Except for Vi Hao and Minh Quang who may be going through quite peaceful days, the remaining strikers of coach Hoang Anh Tuan such as Dinh Bac, Van Tung, Quoc Viet, Nguyen Hoang are no different from a spring that is being compressed too much.

They did not perform well at the Club despite being trusted, did not make any special impression and were even criticized directly by their "family" in the press. The common point of all is that they need a good performance to contribute to U23 Vietnam, the best way to dispel doubts and criticism directed at them.

Dinh Bac is the player who is going through the most unforgettable days up to now. The Quang Nam player is too young to endure the "ear-piercing" comments of coach Van Sy Son. But with 2 goals after 10 matches, his personal attitude as a teacher, and his complete trust in his students, what Dinh Bac has shown has reason to make coach Van Sy Son angry.

However, Dinh Bac still knows how to score goals in V-League compared to Quoc Viet (0 goals/14 matches), Van Tung (0 goals/9 matches). Quoc Viet and Van Tung emerged quite early, but showed a noteworthy slowdown at the time they needed to perform at their best. This is the time they need to return to live up to expectations.

Nguyen Hoang and Vi Hao have scored 1 goal in V-League but for Nguyen Hoang, this number is certainly not impressive. In particular, Thanh Hoa's striker has been arranged by coach Velizar Popov to play high up the pitch with Rimario in the squad many times this season. In U23 Vietnam now, Nguyen Hoang can be the team's number 1 striker.

As for Vi Hao, the B.Binh Duong striker is only familiar with the winger role. This player is quite similar to national team player Nguyen Van Toan, who is better at creating passes for his teammates inside. Vi Hao has speed, but his finishing is not good.

The remaining striker, Minh Quang, also has many similarities with Vi Hao. However, the SHB Da Nang player's sweeping ability is rated higher.

In the 2024 U23 Asian Cup finals, Minh Quang could also be a rare First Division player who can be given a place in the starting lineup by coach Hoang Anh Tuan./.