Looking back at U23 Vietnam in Changzhou and now: Was the failure predicted?

Two years ago, U23 Vietnam was a team with a lot of fighting spirit, with players who are now the pillars of the national team. With the 3-4-3 playing style, Coach Park Hang-seo brought surprises and unpredictability to the whole tournament. Even teams like Australia, Syria, Iraq, Qatar were helpless against the solid defense and sharp counterattacks.

Coming to the 2020 AFC U23 Championship, there are still 7 faces who participated in the tournament two years ago. However, the element of surprise is no longer in the tactics, the lack of luck as well as the quality of each element in the squad is far behind the seniors.

Graphics: TK

Firstly, in the goalkeeper position, Bui Tien Dung of two years ago showed extremely impressive performance. Precise runs, miraculous saves and penalty saves made the brand of the goalkeeper from Thanh Hoa.

However, at the 2020 AFC U23 Championship, Bui Tien Dung did not repeat that form in the match against North Korea U23. The silly mistake in the opponent's equalizer was not the first time Bui Tien Dung made it. Since the 30th SEA Games, the instability of the Vietnam U23 goalkeeper has become a concern for his teammates, in contrast to his form 2 years ago.

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In the left-back position, Doan Van Hau cannot continue to participate and the gap he left is very large. Do Thanh Thinh is also a left-footed player, but his ability to attack and defend is still very limited. Thanh Thinh's ability to fight in the air, break through and pass the ball cannot be compared to the national team player playing in the Netherlands.

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In addition, the right-back position used to belong to Vu Van Thanh (Xuan Manh) - a star of the national team with speed, skillful technique, accurate finishing and excellent attacking ability. The 2018 period, when he was not injured, was the peak of the HAGL player's performance. Two years later, Viet Anh and Tan Tai were the replacements. However, only Tan Tai partly filled that gap.

In the 3-4-3 formation, the two full-back positions are the strength, the powerful wings and the powerful weapons when attacking. However, in the 2020 AFC U23 Championship, coach Park Hang-seo did not have the best players to promote this versatile playing style.

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In the center of the defense, center back Do Duy Manh is truly a defender who proves to be very annoying with his alert and fierce playing style. In 1 vs 1 situations, he often has the advantage thanks to his vast experience and ideal physique.

Two years later, Tan Sinh was the one who played in this position. However, compared to Duy Manh, his junior was still quite inexperienced. Tan Sinh's weakness was shown through his cold-blooded attacks on his opponents.

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In Changzhou, central defender Thanh Chung was the backup for Tien Dung and in Thailand, the central defender of Hanoi FC was the one who had a relatively convincing performance. This is one of the rare positions that played a complete role in the past 3 matches. Thanh Chung's biggest mark was launching the attack for Tan Tai, creating an opportunity for Tien Linh to score.

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Two years ago, Dinh Trong was an important player in the U23 Vietnam defense system. Coming to the U23 Asian Cup, players like Ngoc Bao, Viet Anh, and Duc Chien took turns playing for him. However, all of them failed to meet the requirements and coach Park Hang-seo was forced to risk using Dinh Trong in 3 matches, 1 in the starting lineup. Despite the injury, the 1997-born central defender's performance was still at its peak, marking his return.

Dinh Trong is also the only player capable of launching long passes with “soul” as coach Park Hang-seo calls them. Long passes to the front line relieve pressure on the defense and create opportunities quickly for the strikers.

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In the central midfield position, two years ago, the duo Duc Huy - Xuan Truong were players with the ability to recover the ball, distribute the ball and regulate the play extremely stably. Both were in their prime, especially captain Luong Xuan Truong. More importantly, they both had good tactical thinking, meeting the strict requirements of Coach Park.

Two years later, this position belonged to Duc Chien and Hoang Duc. One was responsible for blocking from afar and making the ball, the other Hoang Duc launched the attack. However, Duc Chien only did well in defense, his ability to support the attack was still very limited, he made many bad passes and his range of activities was still limited compared to Duc Huy.

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For Hoang Duc, this is a tournament in which he left quite a mark with his ability to dribble and shoot from a distance but has not yet brought about results. Overall, compared to Xuan Truong two years ago, Hoang Duc's role cannot be compared.

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Striker Nguyen Cong Phuong is the face that caused many difficulties for opponents at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship with his technique and ability to control the ball and dribble. Cong Phuong's ability to score goals in Changzhou was also highly appreciated. Two years later, Ha Duc Chinh also played and made opponents have many difficulties but did not score any goals.

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Midfielder Quang Hai of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship was one of the best players of the tournament. That was also the peak period of this player before going through continuous tournaments with high density at the club level as well as the national team.

Having to play too much, retreat to defend, organize and not have much space to operate prevented Quang Hai from developing his unique playing style. At the same time, his free kicks in this tournament were less in quantity and quality.

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If we compare Ha Duc Chinh from 2 years ago and Nguyen Tien Linh at the U23 Asian Cup, both are good strikers. Every year, Duc Chinh played as a center forward but was tasked with disrupting and attracting the opponent's defense and also scored 1 goal. This year, Tien Linh also showed his ability to score goals by scoring in the match against North Korea.

One of the reasons why Duc Chinh and Tien Linh could not repeat their form at SEA Games 30 was because the opponents in the continent understood U23 Vietnam too well. The midfield could not reduce the pressure on the defense and did not create many spaces and opportunities for the forwards.

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In 2018, although Phan Van Duc was initially just a supporting player for his teammates, he was one of the "trump cards" in the hands of coach Park Hang-seo. He became a very dangerous attacking player for the U23 Vietnam side.

Not only did he support the defense effectively, he also had 1 assist and 1 valuable goal in the match against Iraq. After that tournament, Phan Van Duc was the shining star of the national team. If we compare Trong Hung or Bao Toan, they will certainly have to make a lot of effort.

Coach Park Hang-seo takes responsibility for U23 Vietnam's failure

(Baonghean.vn) – Coach Park Hang-seo could not hide his sadness and regret after the loss to U23 North Korea. The Korean coach took responsibility for his failure in this tournament.