Laos U23 coach praises midfielder Dinh Xuan Tien

Winning 4-1 against U23 Laos, U23 Vietnam rose to the top of Group C at the U23 Southeast Asian tournament. Of the 4 goals scored by U23 Vietnam, Dinh Xuan Tien was the one who brought the 3rd goal for U23 Vietnam in the 76th minute. The Nghe An player flicked the ball to the far corner while facing the goalkeeper to raise the score to 3-1.

At the post-match press conference, when asked about the best player on the U23 Vietnam side, the U23 Laos coach said:

"I'm sorry, I focus more on my team but if I had to choose a good U23 Vietnam player, I think it's Dinh Xuan Tien. The young player wearing the number 9 shirt played very well."

At the same time, coach Guglielmo Arena also admitted that U23 Vietnam deserved 3 absolute points in the opening match of the U23 Southeast Asian tournament:

"U23 Vietnam is a highly organized team. U23 Laos consists of a younger team than U23 Vietnam. We tried to cause U23 Vietnam problems but the players lost focus after scoring the equalizer.

U23 Vietnam has more experienced players. U23 Vietnam deserves to win, they are stronger than us.But we will not be sad for long and will soon return to the next matches. What U23 Laos is aiming for is the future."

Currently, U23 Vietnam is temporarily leading Group C of the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Championship. If they want to continue, coach Hoang Anh Tuan's students need to get at least 1 point against U23 Philippines.