A test of strength against the tycoons.

The clash between Vietnam U19 and Japan U19 tonight is highly anticipated by fans. This is because Vietnam U19's ambition to create an upset at the 2014 AFC U19 Championship will be assessed based on their performance against the representative of Asia's number one football nation.

Vietnam U19 (right) will still play with dedication even though their opponent is Japan U19 - a top youth team in Asia.

MEET JAPAN'S "TSUBASA GENERATION"

This afternoon,Vietnam U19It will be an exciting experience to compete against them.Japan U19– a team expected to realize their dream of winning the championship.World CupBut Japanese football has only achieved something similar in… the manga series “Captain Tsubasa”. Published 33 years ago (1981), “Captain Tsubasa” was strongly embraced because its content reflected the aspirations of Japanese children. In Japan's journey to becoming the number one football team in Asia, “Captain Tsubasa” deserves at least some credit for its role in terms of morale.

However, the "Tsubasa spirit" has not been maintained by Japan's youth national teams in recent years. At the U19 level, after 13 consecutive top-four finishes in the U19 Asian Championships (from 1959 to 2006), the Japanese U19 team in 2008, 2010, and 2012 only reached the quarter-finals, failing to qualify for the U20 World Cup. Therefore, the current generation of players in the Japanese U19 team is being given much more careful attention and rigorous training in an attempt to rediscover the "Tsubasa spirit".

After a 1-2 defeat against Tottenham U19 in the opening match of the tournament, Japan U19 must achieve a result convincing enough for the experts at home when they face Vietnam U19, a team that, along with them (and 14 other teams in the 2014 AFC U19 Championship), is competing for a spot in the 2015 U20 World Cup. If they perform poorly, individuals who receive low marks may be dropped from the "Tsubasa generation" and will almost certainly lose their chance to become big stars.

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

While the "powerhouse" U19 Japan team is determined to win 3 points, U19 Vietnam also has equally strong motivation, especially with the support of a packed stadium at Thong Nhat. It's also clear that the Vietnamese U19 players are almost completely unfazed by the opponent's reputation, unlike previous generations. Therefore, this promises to be a tense and exciting match.

From a technical standpoint, the Japanese U19 team has a more diverse playing style, while the Vietnamese U19 team has only been effective in central attacks. The team under the coach...Guillaume GraechenVietnam U19 still has limitations in attacking down the flanks and defending against aerial balls. The biggest disadvantage for Vietnam U19 compared to Japan U19 is match experience. Players like Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, and Hong Duy have only played together in their third tournament, while the Japan U19 players have been playing together continuously since July 2012 (this team previously participated in the U22 Asian qualifiers).

Watching the Japanese U19 team play, one can see they know how to manage their energy and control the game to their advantage. Conversely, the Vietnamese youth team, in matches at the 2013 Southeast Asian U19 Championship, the 2014 Asian U19 Championship qualifiers, and most recently in their 1-2 loss to AS Roma U19 in the same tournament, have at times played "overly aggressively," leading to a lack of composure and conceding goals when they were dominating their opponents.

We don't need to discuss the result yet, but it's certain that when our young players directly compete against the Japanese U19 team, they will learn a lot!

According to Bongdaplus