U23 Vietnam - U23 Saudi Arabia: West Asian 'fate'
(Baonghean.vn) - At 11pm today (June 12), coach Gong Oh-kyun and his team will compete with U23 Saudi Arabia in the quarter-finals of the 2022 AFC U23 Championship.
Up to now, U23 Saudi Arabia is the team that has not conceded a goal after 3 matches, equivalent to 270 minutes. Forcing highly rated attackers like U23 Japan and U23 UAE to "keep quiet" is not a simple thing.
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| Saudi Arabia U23 (white shirt) is one of the strong candidates for the championship. Photo: AFC |
Not only possessing a solid defense, U23 Saudi Arabia also has a formidable attack. With 7 goals scored in the group stage, U23 Saudi Arabia is also the team with the second best scoring record, after U23 Uzbekistan, the team with a total of 8 goals.
In terms of force, U23 Saudi Arabia will be without the services of central defender, captain Abdulhamid and midfielder Ibrahim Mahnashi, due to suspension. However, in return, the West Asian team will have the addition of two national players, central defender Hassan Tambakti and striker Firas Al-Buraikan.
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The U23 Vietnam players are very confident before the match with U23 Saudi Arabia. Photo courtesy of Phuc Thang |
Through 3 matches in the group stage, U23 Saudi Arabia has shown its position as the reigning runner-up. It is not an exaggeration to say that coach Saad Al-Shehri's team is one of the strongest candidates for the championship, along with U23 Korea, U23 Uzbekistan or U23 Japan.
However, that does not mean that U23 Saudi Arabia will definitely overcome U23 Vietnam in the quarter-finals. Remember, coach Gong Oh-kyun and his team have just had extremely impressive performances against U23 Thailand (2-2 draw), U23 Malaysia (2-0 win) and especially U23 Korea (1-1 draw).
Unlike under coach Park Hang-seo, coach Gong Oh-kyun's U23 Vietnam has shown to be more dangerous in organizing attacks. If they had been luckier, U23 Vietnam could have completely defeated U23 Thailand and U23 Korea, instead of being held to a draw in regret with missed delicious opportunities.
Furthermore, in the past, Vietnamese football representatives often had good luck with opponents from the West Asian region. The evidence is that at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, Vietnam U23 defeated Iraq U23 (Quarter-finals) and Qatar U23 (Semi-finals), after a series of penalty kicks full of luck.
Experts and Vietnamese football fans are hoping that thanks to their "fate" with teams from the West Asian region, U23 Vietnam will win the final match against U23 Saudi Arabia.