Quang Hai is the strength and also the weakness of U23 Vietnam.

In the first 45 minutes against U23 Brunei - when Quang Hai was on the bench, U23 Vietnam scored 3 goals against their opponents. 2 of those goals were cross-wing headers.

In the remaining 45 minutes, after Quang Hai entered the field, U23 Vietnam scored 3 more goals. All 3 goals came from short, low balls. Quang Hai contributed to all 3 goals.

These are the two faces of U23 Vietnam with and without the 2018 Vietnam Golden Ball in the squad. The midfielder born in 1997 is both the strongest weapon and the biggest weakness in coach Park Hang-seo's squad.

U23 Vietnam with and without Quang Hai are two completely different faces. Photo: Minh Chien

Facing U23 Brunei, who were considered the weakest in the group, coach Park Hang-seo's team showed two completely different faces in the two halves.

Against Brunei in the first half, with a squad consisting mostly of rookies, U23 Vietnam deployed a very different style of play than usual. Coach Park Hang-seo's students continuously crossed the ball, from many different positions and distances. Doan Van Hau, Do Thanh Thinh, Trieu Viet Hung, Truong Van Thai Quy all more or less participated in the crossing situations, aiming at the two heads of Ha Duc Chinh and Nguyen Hoang Duc inside.

That style of play was effective against a Brunei U23 team that was too weak in terms of individual ability as well as collective organization. Duc Chinh headed the ball to open the score after a pass from Thanh Thinh, while Thanh Chung and Thanh Binh scored the rebound after continuous crosses.

In the second half, when Quang Hai entered the field, the situation immediately changed. Hai "Con" dribbled the ball through before assisting Viet Hung for the 4th goal. He directly brought about a penalty for the 5th goal before scoring his own goal from the 11m mark for the 6th goal.

Too many changes in this training session caused U23 Vietnam to lose its strength and old playing style. Photo: Minh Chien.

In 45 minutes on the field, Quang Hai scored 1 goal, assisted 1 goal, and brought about a penalty that led to the remaining goal.

The goal in the 60th minute showed the extremely high level of Hai "Con". He received the ball with his back turned close to the 16m50 line, controlled the ball as if it was rubber stuck to his feet, turned around, and dribbled when there were 4 opposing players in front and behind. In an extremely narrow space, Quang Hai still passed 2 people before passing the ball to Viet Hung's strong foot to score the 4th goal.

Praising Quang Hai is natural. With the best player of the 2018 AFF Cup, who shone at the AFF Cup and Asian Cup, the defense of U23 Brunei is clearly no match.

But the difference between U23 Vietnam with and without Quang Hai is the real problem.

Coach Park Hang-seo has lost many good students and is struggling to build a new generation. Photo: Minh Chien.

Why does U23 Vietnam have to play high balls?

But why did U23 Vietnam have to continuously play high balls against Brunei? Why couldn't Coach Park Hang-seo's team play their familiar short, small game against the weakest opponent in Asia?

Because Mr. Park no longer has players who can do that. The player who best penetrated the U23 Vietnam starting lineup yesterday, Doan Van Hau, has been moved to play center back. The two wings of U23 Vietnam last night were in charge of Ho Tan Tai (right) and Do Thanh Thinh (left). Compared to Vu Van Thanh, Pham Xuan Manh or Nguyen Trong Hoang, they are too immature and of course there is a huge gap in level.

Up front, the situation is no different, Trieu Viet Hung and Truong Van Thai Quy are still far behind the options in Thuong Chau. Hoang Duc is probably the "softest" player in the attack, but asking him to play like Nguyen Cong Phuong or Phan Van Duc before is unthinkable.

The “needle” players are what U23 Vietnam is lacking. The absence of Van Duc and Cong Phuong means that U23 Vietnam no longer has top-class attacking midfielders. The team no longer has players who can penetrate the space between the defense and midfield, exploit it, and pass the ball to the front line. Quang Hai is the only remaining U23 Vietnam player capable of playing like that.

Due to the inability to penetrate the center, U23 Vietnam was forced to push the ball to the wings. But those were also long passes, not the low crosses that the Vietnam team used to perform at the Asian Cup.

Hoang Duc (red shirt) is a skillful and skillful player. But asking him to play like Cong Phuong or Phan Van Duc is too much. Photo: Minh Chien

The huge gap in strength between the current U23 Vietnam team and the seniors makes it impossible for Mr. Park to apply the old playing style that brought resounding success. Sharing with the press after the match, the Korean coach admitted: “When we go down the wing, the wingers often cross high or low inside. But today, we often only cross high. I don’t want to cross high too much and I think the players don’t like it either. Our most effective playing style is still short, taking advantage of mobility and sharpness.”

Of course, wanting to do it is one thing, being able to do it is another. We have seen how the two images of U23 Vietnam contrast with only one "needle" player Quang Hai.

But is Quang Hai alone enough? The creative midfielder of Hanoi FC has made the entire U23 Brunei defense chaotic, but in front of him, the next opponents are Thailand and Indonesia. If the coach of U23 Brunei only needs 45 minutes to be "most impressed with the player wearing the number 19 shirt", Thailand and Indonesia will definitely take note of Quang Hai.

Quang Hai is outstanding, but he alone will have difficulty confronting the elite squad of U23 Thailand - a team that made an even stronger impression than Vietnam when it destroyed U23 Indonesia 4-0.

Finding a way to support Quang Hai will be the most important task of Coach Park Hang-seo before the two decisive confrontations with Indonesia and Thailand.

Bright spots of U23 Vietnam against Brunei

- The 6-0 victory on the opening day helped U23 Vietnam temporarily top the table. Goal difference can greatly affect the standings, especially when the second-place team also has the chance to continue.

- When U23 Vietnam warmed up before the match, people still saw the trio of central defenders Tan Sinh - Thanh Chung - Van Hau (from right to left) practicing their positions over and over again. With so many changes, the trio of central defenders did not concede any goals or make any mistakes, which is good news for Mr. Park, although the real challenge is still waiting for U23 Vietnam ahead.

- Ha Duc Chinh scored a goal, his volley hit the post once, helping fans temporarily forget their worries about the striker position. Without Tien Linh due to injury, Thanh Binh does not have much experience, this is an opportunity for Duc Chinh to assert himself, an opportunity for coach Park Hang-seo to prove that his trust is not misplaced.