Vietnam team creates earthquake against Australia in U20 Asia final

The joy of the U20 Vietnam players after opening the score. Photo: VFF

Participate in U20 Asia 2023,U20 Vietnamare in group B with opponents U20 Australia, U20 Iran and U20 Qatar. This is a difficult group for coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team.

In the opening match, U20 Vietnam met U20 Australia, a very strong opponent, with many stars playing in top European leagues. Therefore, to get a positive result, coach Hoang Anh Tuan's students must be very alert and persistent with their playing style.

In the starting lineup of U20 Vietnam in this match are 3 players from Song Lam Nghe An: defender Ho Van Cuong, center back Nguyen Hoang and goalkeeper Cao Van Binh.

Starting lineup of U20 Vietnam. Photo: VFF

As expected, as soon as the opening whistle blew, U20 Australia pushed up their formation to pressure U20 Vietnam. In order to limit the opponent's strength, coach Hoang Anh Tuan chose a defensive counter-attacking style of play. And this style of play brought an unbelievable surprise to the large audience watching the match.

In the 6th minute, from an effective transition, U20 Vietnam opened the score of the match. The goal came from a situation of attacking the ball in the middle, after handling it neatly, Quoc Viet unleashed a tricky shot from a distance of more than 25m, leaving the Australian goalkeeper no chance to block it.

After the goal, U20 Australia poured into U20 Vietnam's half to find an equalizer. With their physical strength completely overwhelming coach Hoang Anh Tuan's team, Australia took full advantage of the attacking lines on the flanks, then flipped the ball inside for tall players to head.

With that way of playing, Popovic threatened Cao Van Binh's goal with a header that hit the U20 Vietnam crossbar in the 14th minute.

Although the opponent was of a higher level, coach Hoang Anh Tuan's students were not too passive in organizing defense. Besides, U20 Vietnam was still confident, organizing sharp attacks and causing difficulties for the Australian defense.

Australia had better ball control, but did not create many dangerous opportunities in front of Cao Van Binh's goal. Photo: VFF

In the 31st minute, Vietnam created a dangerous opportunity in front of Jack Warshawsky's goal. Khuat Van Khang cut in at the near post to receive a corner kick. The Viettel midfielder's header from a tight angle sent the ball wide of the post.

In the final minutes of the first half, both teams created clear scoring opportunities. However, with the excellence of the goalkeepers on both sides, the score remained the same.

Australia's missed shot came from Popovic's close-range header, but goalkeeper Van Binh had a brilliant reflex to save the home team from a clear loss.

Immediately after that, U20 Vietnam also created a chance with Thanh Nhan's header. Goalkeeper Jack had to work hard to clear the shot to avoid Australia's second goal.

Entering the second half, the game was not much different from the first minutes of the first half. U20 Australia still actively increased the tempo of the game to approach Van Binh's goal. However, the defense system of U20 Vietnam was organized quite scientifically, making it impossible for the opponent to have the ball attacking as desired.

The proactive play helped U20 Vietnam create sharp counter-attacks. And if lucky, Hoang Anh Tuan's team could have doubled the gap in the 60th minute. This situation shows that defender Ho Van Cuong showed his ability to attack and defend effectively. The player who is playing for Song Lam Nghe An, used his speed to get past the opponent's defense, then made a reasonable pass to Nguyen Thanh Nhan. However, in the situation of facing the opponent's goalkeeper, the player from B.Binh Duong's roster kicked the ball wide of the post.

In the 75th minute, U20 Vietnam continued to create opportunities, but Vi Hao lacked a bit of luck, when his shot missed the post by a hair.

On the defensive front, the solidity, alertness and excellent positioning of the duo from Song Lam Nghe An - goalkeeper Cao Van Binh and center back Nguyen Hoang did not give the opponent a chance to score.

In the final minutes of the match, it seemed that U20 Vietnam would not have enough strength to keep up with the opponent. However, coach Hoang Anh Tuan's students showed improvement in physical strength when they were strong enough to attack and defend in harmony.

At the end of the match, U20 Vietnam had a favorable start at the 2023 AFC U20 Championship, when they won 1-0 against U20 Australia.

On March 4, U20 Vietnam will play the second match of Group B against U20 Qatar.

Duc Anh