Defender Ho Van Cuong: 'I feel I didn't play well enough at the U23 Asian Championship'

On the afternoon of April 28th, the Vietnam U23 team arrived in Hanoi after concluding their strenuous journey at the 2024 AFC U23 Asian Championship finals.

Defender Ho Van Cuong was an important player for the Vietnam U23 team at the recent AFC U23 Asian Championship. Despite high expectations, the player from Nghe An province didn't really leave a strong impression. He only performed adequately.

After returning to Hanoi, Ho Van Cuong shared: "Before the tournament, I always thought that trying my best on the field meant giving it my all, working with the whole team to go as far as possible and achieve the best results. In my opinion, I didn't play well in the recent tournament. I haven't played much lately, so my ball control and on-field feel weren't great, and I felt a bit nervous when I went on the field. Therefore, the tournament wasn't a success for me."

Not only speaking about himself, Ho Van Cuong also expressed regret that the Vietnam U23 team couldn't advance further: "The match between the two sides (Vietnam U23 and Iraq U23) was evenly matched, there wasn't much difference, we were only eliminated because of a small mistake. In football, everyone makes mistakes. Moreover, this is only the U23 team, no one has really extensive experience. From now on, the players will try their best in every match in the future. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan said there's nothing to be sad about because we tried our best, but we must strive even harder so that in future big tournaments we can participate and play better."

Finally, Ho Van Cuong expressed his hope that the Indonesian U23 team would continue to advance further in the tournament: "I hope the Indonesian U23 team can go as far as possible because they are also a team from the same Southeast Asian region."

Upon returning to Hanoi, the U23 Vietnam players will immediately prepare to rejoin their respective clubs for the final stages of the 2023/2024 V.League season.