U23 Vietnam vs U23 Malaysia tonight June 8: Confident, dedicated and explosive!

The difference isU23 VietnamLed by a new coach, no players over 23 years old as required, operating a new style of play, got 2 points after 2 draws against top regional and continental opponents. Meanwhile, U23 Malaysia brought the full squad from the SEA Games as a real rehearsal to bring hope to the U23 Asian finals, but suffered 2 heavy losses against U23 Korea (1-4) and U23 Thailand (0-3) and were officially eliminated early before one round.

The above reality easily leads to a subjective opinion that U23 Vietnam will not have any difficulty when facing an opponent who is mentally and physically exhausted, and has no outstanding performance in this final round.

2-2 draw between U23 Vietnam and U23 Thailand. Photo: Archive

Previously, in the region, U23 Malaysia was always not afraid of U23 Thailand, even winning against this opponent in the SEA Games group stage, but now they have lost convincingly, with no way to explain or save. U23 Malaysia once made coach Park Hang-seo and his team sweat in the semi-final of SEA Games 31, having to wait until the 111th minute of the second extra time from a set piece situation, Hung Dung, Tien Linh and his juniors were able to break the balance, fortunately not having to drag each other into a penalty shootout.

But with the current situation in Group C, U23 Vietnam has absolutely no right to decide, although the chance of winning against U23 Malaysia will open up a great opportunity to enter the quarterfinals. The problem is that U23 Thailand is preparing their spirit to achieve a favorable result against the defending champion U23 Korea, besides encouraging U23 Malaysia not to give up before U23 Vietnam.

Therefore, to achieve the goal of going deep into the tournament, U23 Vietnam must first achieve a good result against U23 Malaysia and wait for the remaining match to determine the winner and loser. If there is a draw, there will be no score of 3-3 or higher according to the calculation of goal difference and the number of goals scored by each team. Coach Gong Oh-kyun and his team have two very noteworthy draws. Whether they can make a difference when they meet an opponent of equal strength again is not easy to confirm when the final whistle and the group stage of Group C tonight have not sounded yet?

U23 Vietnam won the gold medal at SEA Games 31. Photo: Archive

According to our prediction, first of all, U23 Korea with the return of "brain" Lee Kang-in and the recovery of spirit after the draw with U23 Vietnam will be able to prove the position of the defending champion against U23 Thailand, although the Thais will also rise up to look for every big and small opportunity. Meanwhile, Mr. Gong Oh-kyun and his team should "ignore" the internal turmoil or the rock bottom spirit of U23 Malaysia as the media reported. Also, do not care about the fact that after crushing the opponent, Mr. Srimaka expects them to rise up to fight another opponent to "help" himself?

For U23 Vietnam, there is still a wide open door for Tuan Tai and his teammates to play to their potential and desire in a match that is no different from a previous semi-final or the current final of Group C. The only position that is not really secure is midfielder Duy Cuong, but U23 Malaysia is certainly not a superior opponent, so it is very likely that this natural central defender will continue to be used in a new position in the decisive third match. Mr. Gong can also continue to use Manh Dung in the attack from the beginning to wear down the opponent and send Van Tung into the field from the beginning or in the middle of the second half to finish off the opponent. Hopefully Tuan Tai and Van Do will continue to play the role of creator, Tien Long will continue to excel and who knows, maybe the new hero of U23 Vietnam will appear in this match?

After all, this match, as well as any other match of U23 Vietnam in the new stage led by the new coach, is valuable as bricks to build the road to success ahead for Vietnamese football, especially the goal of the 2026 World Cup. Winning the decisive match and achieving the goal of reaching the quarter-finals is a smooth and favorable start, but with youth football, be ready to accept other things that may not be as expected and calculated as usual.

Mr. Gong Oh-kyun has done a great job of “inspiring” his students in the first difficult official matches, so that work will certainly continue so that U23 Vietnam can enter today’s match with confidence, dedication and explosiveness. Because in these 3 group stage matches, the first 2 matches were really… big mountains, boulders blocking the way, but today the road is clear, the summer is cool, so it’s normal, why should we… be nervous?

Phu Chau