Coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh: U23 players need to improve their confidence

Facing a strong opponent, U23 Vietnam took the field with a 5-4-1 formation. The 5-man defense was organized quite tightly, causing U23 Korea to face many difficulties in the first 45 minutes.

Regarding the playing style of Coach Park Hang's students on the opening day, Coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh commented: "After just over 1 month of leading U23 Vietnam, Coach Park Hang Seo has done so impressively. The distance of the U23 Vietnam squad has been maintained, the ability to switch from defense to attack is also much more flexible against a stronger opponent in all aspects like U23 Korea."

The second highlight was Quang Hai's opening goal in the 17th minute. Coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh said: "This combination must have been trained by Coach Park Hang Seo many times for his players. He had to study the opponent very carefully and let the players practice this move over and over again so that when entering the match, he could have such high accuracy and surprise. It must also be said that Quang Hai is a player with the ability to finish from a distance very well."

Although scoring first, the fact that U23 Vietnam only conceded 2 goals in a completely inferior match was thanks to the confidence of goalkeeper Tien Dung in goal. This player not only "predicted" the opponent's penalty kick but also showed great coordination with the defenders.

The first goal that U23 Vietnam conceded came from the great pressure created by the U23 Korean attack. In the second goal in the 73rd minute, the height limitation caused Dinh Trong to lose in the aerial battle, allowing Lee Keun-ho (number 9) to head the ball into the net.

Coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh shared: “We started the game well and took the lead. This made U23 Korea somewhat startled, showing signs of impatience. If we had not equalized early, perhaps U23 Vietnam would have had a better game, especially when the physical endurance of the players has improved a lot. The second goal conceded, the players played very hard under the strong pressure from U23 Korea. This move cannot be blamed on Dinh Trong.”

Striker Nguyen Quang Hai was the bright spot of U23 Vietnam in the match against Korea. Photo: AFC

Finally, to get the best results in the 2 matches with U23 Australia (January 14) and U23 Syria (January 17), Coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh said that U23 Vietnam needs to be more courageous. That is also what the former head coach of the national team pointed out before the match took place.

“Confidence is something that Coach Park Hang Seo’s players need to improve. Against U23 Korea, I feel that our players are still not confident in holding the ball. We need to be more confident, the ball must be circulated through more rhythms to have hope of causing surprises in the remaining two matches of the group stage. We need to encourage the players to help them increase their strength,” Coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh concluded./.