Japan U19 3-1 Vietnam U19: Learning finishing, learning defense.

Those are the two key areas the Vietnam U19 team needs to improve. We have a creative and technically gifted Cong Phuong, and a fighting spirit, but that's not enough for success.

Poor finishing

Compared to the crushing defeat against South Korea U19, Vietnam U19 created more dangerous and incisive attacking opportunities in this match. Unfortunately, we only scored one goal due to poor finishing. Thanh Tung and Xuan Hung had chances to score, but their shots lacked the power, accuracy, sharpness, and finesse needed to find the net.

It's a shame because while expecting the Vietnam U19 defense to play brilliantly and have good luck throughout the match to keep a clean sheet is unrealistic, scoring a goal (at least one goal) was entirely possible for us this afternoon. If Guillaume Graechen had a good striker at his disposal, Vietnam U19 might have scored more than one goal.

Cong Phuong shines

Cong Phuong played well, but that wasn't enough.

It's not a brilliant performance, but Công Phượng clearly stood out more in this match than in the game against South Korea U19. Phượng showcased his signature skillful dribbling and delivered precise through passes to his teammates. Unfortunately, his teammates failed to capitalize on the opportunities created.

One reason Công Phượng was able to showcase his talent was partly because the Japanese U19 team played extremely fairly. Công Phượng wasn't fouled, pressed, or tightly marked like in the match against the South Korean U19 team.

Defensive errors

Vietnam U19 once again lost to Japan U19, albeit by a minimal margin. Similar to the match against South Korea U19, Hong Duy's left-back position was heavily exploited in this game, proving to be a fatal weakness for Vietnam U19. Japan U19 had at least five dangerous shots originating from Hong Duy's left flank, and Vietnam only managed to keep a clean sheet after the first half partly due to luck.

At times, number 7 wasn't present in key areas. At other times, Hong Duy failed in one-on-one challenges, and then dangerously lost possession. The post denied U19 Japan two goals. The ball luckily found Minh Long in the first half after a close-range header from an open position. A shot from inside the penalty area also went wide of the post in the first half, and another close-range header from a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper went over the crossbar in the second half for U19 Japan.

It all stemmed from Hong Duy's left flank, who was at fault for 3 out of 6 goals conceded by Vietnam U19 in the match against South Korea U19. The first goal conceded by Vietnam U19 in that match was due to Xuan Hung's indecisive clearance, allowing Okugawa to steal the ball and score past Minh Long.

The second goal conceded was due to goalkeeper Van Truong's ill-timed rush out, while the third goal came when we had lost our concentration.

Losing focus during crucial moments.

Clearly, Vietnam U19's opponents were not in their best physical condition for this match. It was evident that the blue-shirted team couldn't significantly increase their pace against Vietnam U19 until the end of the game. This was also a key reason why Vietnam U19's defense wasn't disrupted too much and didn't collapse as it did against South Korea U19.

But we still conceded three goals despite Thanh Tung's good finish, equalizing 1-1 and rekindling hopes of a draw with only six minutes left. Yet, the Vietnam U19 team conceded two more goals in that short period.

The biggest and most direct mistake, of course, lies with the defense. The ability to defend against aerial balls is a very difficult weakness for the Vietnam U19 team to overcome, but we truly lost focus in defense at crucial moments. The price we paid was very high!

Watch the goal clips.:

Ideguchi increased the score to 3-1 for Japan U19..

The score is 2-1 in favor of Japan.

Thanh Tùng equalized the score at 1-1 for Vietnam U19.

Masaya Okugawa opened the scoring, giving Japan U19 a 1-0 lead.

According to TTVH/VnExpress