Coach Hoang Anh Tuan is not satisfied even though U23 Vietnam won big against Laos

Sharing in the press conference after the match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan said: "With this result, I am a bit satisfied but U23 Vietnam still has many things to improve. The opening match is always difficult and the team must play with focus and make every effort. Although U23 Laos was not easy to play, in the end we won.

U23 Vietnam respects the opponent. Sometimes during the match, the players are not focused. I told the players that even if the score is 4-1, they still have to be stronger, have better ball control, have higher goals.

At Rayong Stadium this afternoon, Vietnam had a poor start, passing many wrong passes, allowing Laos to dominate. Although Minh Khoa opened the scoring in the 23rd minute after Van Khang's spontaneous dribble, coach Hoang Anh Tuan's team let their opponents equalize just 7 minutes into the half. Goalkeeper Van Chuan missed his punch, allowing Thipphachan to kick the ball into an empty net to equalize.

After the equalizer, Laos confidently pushed up their attack formation. But because of that, their defense had more space, making it easier for Vietnam to attack. In the 72nd minute, Xuan Tien headed the ball back for Minh Quang to rush past the Lao player to face the goalkeeper, then shoot low across the corner, raising the score to 2-1. This goal helped Vietnam to untie the knot of the match, play more effectively and easily win 4-1 in the end.

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan admitted that the team sometimes lost focus, causing him to shout at the players, asking them to respect their opponents. After Laos equalized, the coach from Khanh Hoa also encouraged the players to keep the ball better, considering this the secret to the team's better performance. "I told the players that our team is stronger, we must be confident in holding the ball to play. Control the ball to develop the game, then the opportunity will come. Everything happened exactly like that," the head coach of U23 Vietnam added.

"This is Laos, the next opponent is the Philippines and then maybe Malaysia or Thailand. The team's goal is to reach the final match of the tournament. And to do that, we have to control the ball to play our way," coach Hoang Anh Tuan shared. "Today the team has made mistakes but that is also normal, because these are young players, and it is their first match. My task is to help them improve right in the match, through each match. The players always have to focus and try their best," the coach from Khanh Hoa concluded.

Also at the press conference, striker Nguyen Minh Quang shared: ''This is the team's first match, so the whole team tried, improved and won. The team will try harder in the next matches to reach the final match''.

Talking about the act of clasping hands in prayer after scoring the opening goal, the player from Binh Thuan said: ''Vietnamese football has just experienced a sad event, after scoring the goal, the players took action to remember the unfortunate victims of Hoang Anh Gia Lai who died in the tragic accident on August 12''.

Defeating Laos, Vietnam rose to the top of Group C. The team only needs a draw against the Philippines on August 22 to enter the semi-finals./.