Coach Park Hang Seo: "U23 Vietnam was lucky against Australia"

Quang Hai's golden goal and the unyielding fighting spirit of U23 Vietnam helped us achieve a historic victory at the U23 Asian Cup when we beat U23 Australia 1-0. Of course, Coach Park Hang Seo was pleased with this very important victory. After the match, the Korean strategist dedicated the victory to Vietnamese fans.

“I want to share this victory with Vietnamese football fans. I promised to do something special but this is just the beginning. I want to thank the players, the assistants and my students, they did everything I asked them to do. And this joy must end soon, from tomorrow we must immediately focus on the match against U23 Syria.

We always believe that we can win every match. We do not know in advance what the result will be, but we always go out with the mindset to win. Every team has good points and of course today, we were lucky,” Coach Park Hang Seo shared.

Luong Xuan Truong and his teammates surprised U23 Australia. Photo: AFC

Meanwhile, coach Ante Milicic, head coach of U23 Australia, expressed disappointment but not surprise at this defeat. Facing the U23 Vietnam defense, the Australian attack did not play as expected, missing too many opportunities.

However, he did not blame bad luck but admitted defeat.

“First of all, I want to congratulate Vietnam on a great win. For them to win at a tournament like this is a reward for their character and a boost to their confidence. We expected something from the way they set up, their tactics and their approach to the game with their 5-4-1 formation. It was similar to the way they set up against the U23s and we tried to exploit it at key moments to create some clear-cut chances. However, we conceded goals easily and we could have handled those situations better.

In the end, we created three or four good chances but could not score, although we feel very disappointed, we appreciate this match and focus on the next match. The match against U23 Korea will be very difficult for us," coach Ante Milicic shared.

This victory temporarily helped U23 Vietnam rise to the top of Group D, equal in points with U23 Korea and Australia. In the group stage match, if they win against U23 Syria, Coach Park Hang Seo can completely win a ticket to the next round. Meanwhile, U23 Australia must beat U23 Korea to avoid being eliminated because the AFC U23 Championship finals count on head-to-head results./.