New Zealand - the first opponent of U20 Vietnam at World Cup 2017

(Baonghean.vn) - In the upcoming tournament in Korea, the U20 Vietnam team will of course not have to face 3 strong opponents like U20 Argentina, and U20 New Zealand is considered the easiest opponent for coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team.

To Korea, English coach Darren Bazeley brought 3 goalkeepers, 6 defenders, 7 midfielders and 5 strikers. Most of the New Zealand U20 team's attackers play domestically, but they are national team players of this country.

New Zealand U20 team - Vietnam's first and arguably easiest opponent in the upcoming tournament... - Photo: Internet

The New Zealand U20 team has five key players: Clayton Lewis, Moses Dyer, Henry Cameron, Logan Rogerson and Dane Ingham - who together advanced to the round of 16 at the 2015 U20 World Cup held in New Zealand.

There are also 11 players in the squad that represented New Zealand at the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2015 including Sunderland FC Premier goalkeeper Michael Woud, as well as Nike Academy student Myer Bevan, who was the best player and top scorer at the New Zealand U20 National Championship last year.

In the goalkeeper position, the person guarding the goal of the New Zealand U20 team will most likely be goalkeeper Michael Woud (18 years old), currently on the payroll of Sunderland U23 in England.

Defender No. 2 - Dane Ingham (17 years old) is playing for Brisbane Roar, a team currently ranked 2nd in the Australian National Championship. The real challenge for the U20 Vietnam strikers will be defender No. 3 - Sean Liddicoat (20 years old), No. 4 - Luke Johnson (19 years old) and Jack Henry (19 years old).

Defender Sean Liddicoat has been a starter for Hawke's Bay United, who finished 4th in the New Zealand Premier League, for the second year in a row. Meanwhile, Jack Henry has played 7 games this season for Wellington Phoenix Res, who finished 7th in the New Zealand Premier League.

Notably, the midfielders of the New Zealand U20 team have a good scoring efficiency for their clubs. The most prominent is Moses Dyer (number 8), currently playing for the Eastern Suburbs Club in Australia. Last season, he played 17 matches and scored 5 goals.

Midfielder No. 6 - Joe Bell, 3 seasons at Wellington Phoenix Res Club, ranked 7th in the New Zealand National Championship. Last season, this player only played 6 matches. Midfielder No. 10 - Clayton Lewis also has 3 seasons of experience playing domestically, currently playing at Auckland City Club, last season the midfielder played 10 matches, scoring 5 goals.

Of course, the opponent's physique will be a big challenge for coach Hoang Anh Tuan's students. Because the U20 New Zealand players are all very tall, most of them are over 1m82.

Henry Cameroon is the striker that Vietnamese defenders should pay attention to - Photo: Internet

In the forward line, half are national teams of this country. Among them, Henry Cameroon (number 11) plays for Blackpool Club in the 4th division of England. National player Logan Rogerson (number 17) is playing domestically, this season he has played 16 matches, scoring 3 goals.

Coach Bazeley revealed on the New Zealand Football Federation website that he is confident that he has some good players from around the world who are eager to show their worth. Noah Billingsley, who played very well at the FIFA U20 World Cup in New Zealand and scored in the 5-1 win over Myanmar, is a good example.

Before moving to Korea on May 18, the New Zealand team had important friendly matches with U20 Mexico and clubs in China.

Trung Kien