Coach Hoang Anh Tuan: 'We will still play our best against U23 Uzbekistan'
(Baonghean.vn) - Coach Hoang Anh Tuan was very pleased with the victory over Malaysia, and affirmed that the U23 Vietnam team will still play their best against U23 Uzbekistan, even though they have reached the quarter-finals of the U23 Asian Cup.
In the second match of Group D, the U23 Vietnam team won 2-0 against U23 Malaysia to open the door to the Quarterfinals of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship.
Speaking at the press conference after the match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan was very pleased with his players' performance and affirmed that the victory for U23 Vietnam was well-deserved.
“I don’t know what word is more accurate than satisfaction to describe this match. We will play better in each match. The players played well in terms of technique and tactics. The score reflects the nature of the match, the U23 Vietnam team deserved to win,” Hoang Anh Tuan commented in the opening statement of the press conference.
Giving a more specific assessment of the match with U23 Malaysia, coach Hoang Anh Tuan said: “I said before the tournament that there are no weak teams in this group. Although U23 Vietnam won, we went through difficult times, especially in the last minutes of the second half. Tactically, I made some changes. As the match got closer to the end, preserving the score became more important, so the team switched to a defensive counter-attacking style of play to achieve the final result.”
When reminded of the scenario of the 2023 U20 Asian Cup when the U20 Vietnam team led by coach Hoang Anh Tuan won 2 matches but lost in the last match and had to stop in the group stage, coach Hoang Anh Tuan replied: “The nature of the tournament and the matches of the U20 age group are completely different from the U23. I do not have any subjective thoughts. In theory and reality, U23 Vietnam still has to wait for the result of the following match between U23 Uzbekistan and U23 Kuwait. Many current U23 Vietnam players have participated in the U20 tournament before, they themselves also understand the nature of the matches and their future goals. I do not need to say too much about that. The whole team understands the common goal that the whole team has clearly set from the beginning of the season”.
Coach Hoang Anh Tuan added: “The upcoming match against U23 Uzbekistan is also a very important match for U23 Vietnam. Regardless of the result of the match between U23 Uzbekistan and U23 Kuwait, we still have to concentrate highly on the match on April 23. I still tell my players to play their best. Because this is an opportunity for U23 Vietnam players to gain experience for their future,” coach Hoang Anh Tuan concluded./.