Coach Hoang Anh Tuan is satisfied even though U23 Vietnam stopped at the U23 Asian tournament.
(Baonghean.vn) - Coach Hoang Anh Tuan regrets that U23 Vietnam had to stop at the U23 Asian tournament, but he is still satisfied with his players' performance.
Losing to U23 Iraq with a score of 1-0, the U23 Vietnam team ended its journey at the 2024 U23 Asian Cup finals.
Sharing about this match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan said: "U23 Vietnam aims for fair play despite unavoidable situations. At the end of the match, even though we received a red card, we still chose an attacking style of play, determined until the last minute. Because this helps the young players develop better.
The journey of U23 Vietnam has stopped, but I am very satisfied with what the players have shown. It is a pity that the match was decided by a penalty. But that is football."
The situation where U23 Vietnam was awarded a penalty created a turning point in the match. The strategist from Khanh Hoa believes that VAR technology has helped referees make more accurate decisions.
"The role of VAR is very prominent in this tournament. Not only U23 Vietnam, many matches and even in top teams have had many red cards, yellow cards or penalties after the referee checked VAR. I think the foul situations that VAR points out can always happen in football.
VAR helps to make the rules of football more strict, but there are situations that I don't think warrant a red card. VAR, referees and the rules want football to be better.
I only focus on my skills and care about how my players play. Of course, from my perspective, I cannot say whether that penalty is right or wrong. That is the referee's job. The match is over, I do not want to mention that situation again," coach Hoang Anh Tuan frankly shared.
Although U23 Vietnam could not continue to be able to repeat the miracle like Thuong Chau 2018, coach Hoang Anh Tuan still gave words of praise: "U23 Vietnam improved after each match. Obviously, as you can see, in this match U23 Vietnam showed many different things compared to previous matches.
Remember, today's opponent of U23 Vietnam is U23 Iraq, not U23 Kuwait or U23 Malaysia. With such a strong team, we all see how U23 Vietnam plays. They have improved in terms of expertise and tactics. I am happy about that.
As I said before the match, if U23 Iraq wins the ticket to the semi-finals, we will still be happy. If U23 Vietnam makes it to the semi-finals, that would be great. After the match, we will still be friends," coach Hoang Anh Tuan concluded./.
