Coach Park Hang-seo 'scored' in the eyes of fans

Rotate cards, disrupt the opponent's play

The U23 Myanmar team did not have coach Velizar Popov on the coaching seat because he received a red card in the last match, but that did not affect much, he still directed from the stands. Perhaps the fact that he had less than 3 days of rest affected the physical strength of the Myanmar players and the match also showed that.

Myanmar U23 team wanted a draw in 90 minutes so they played with a 4-1-4-1 formation, concentrating most of their players on defense in the midfield area. Meanwhile,Coach Park Hang-seochanged from the 3-4-3 formation of the previous match to 3-5-2 to win this match. Hai Long wore the captain's armband with Hoang Anh, Trong Long played central midfield, right behind the two strikers Van Dat and Xuan Tu. Midfielder Huu Thang had to sit on the bench after an unsuccessful debut.

Coach Park Hang-seo switched to a 3-5-2 formation to fight Myanmar. Photo: Onsport

Trong Long is a PVF player who played very impressively for Pho Hien Football Club in the 2020 National First Division before moving to Ho Chi Minh City Club. This midfielder has a good physique, plays energetically and has good long-range shots, taking on the role of blocking, playing right in front of the 3 central defenders of U23 Vietnam.

Coach Park Hang-seo showed his skill when using Hai Long in this match because of the high mobility of the player who has just joined Hanoi FC and will become the third striker. But like the match against U23 Chinese Taipei, the two wingers Van Xuan and Van Do are still the main strikers of the U23 Vietnam team. In the first 45 minutes, U23 Vietnam mainly lurk, play probing and disrupt the opponent's playing style rather than organizing to score.

The decisive blow

Obviously, with such an important match, neither team would risk attacking quickly, mainly keeping the ball so as not to give the opponent any chances.U23 VietnamIt was somewhat lucky that Van Dat did not receive a red card for elbowing his opponent in the face at the beginning of the match.

At the beginning of the second half, Coach Park Hang-seo made a decisive move when he brought Thanh Minh in to replace striker Xuan Tu. Only 1.70m tall, the striker who came off the bench made a difference on the field with a header in the 58th minute.

U22 Vietnam had their second victory, taking the top spot in Group I. Photo: VFF.

The person who made that annoyingly swirling pass was captain Hai Long, who played very well in the last 30 minutes of the previous match when he was brought onto the field. The story of choosing Hai Long can be explained, but as for why Thanh Minh was brought onto the field to score, only coach Park Hang-seo can answer. In the 80th minute, Wunna Soe received a red card and left the field when he punched Hoang Anh in the face, pushing U23 Myanmar into a 10-on-11 situation and had to leave in an unbelievable scenario. Just 1 point against U23 Vietnam was enough for Mr. Popov's army to qualify for the 2022 AFC U23 Championship, but in the end, Myanmar had to leave empty-handed.

For the fourth consecutive time, we are present at the AFC U23 Championship, but clearly, Mr. Park still has a lot of work to do. In addition to the host Uzbekistan, 14 other teams including: Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Turkmenistan, Jordan, Australia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia are also "regular guests" of this tournament. We have a few key faces such as Hai Long, Thanh Binh, Viet Anh, Van Xuan, Van Do, but the collective play is still lackluster, unable to overwhelm opponents who are considered weaker.