Go to the continent to see a vast distance

For the U20 team, the championship belonged to the host Uzbekistans after a close victory over U20 Iraq in a fairly balanced final match. Strong teams such as U20 Iran, U20 Korea, U20 Japan were all eliminated in the quarter-finals and semi-finals in extra time or after lucky penalty shootouts despite having previously shown superiority over their opponents.

In the Doha Cup with the U23 team, although it was not an official tournament, the teams all fielded their strongest lineups, competing fiercely to achieve the best possible results. In the championship match, U23 Korea showed superiority in terms of technical skills, physical strength, and fitness, winning a convincing 3-0 victory over U23 UAE (the team that previously won 4-0 against U23 Vietnam). In the match for third place, U23 Thailand lost 0-1 to U23 Kuwait, having to accept 4th place overall. And that was a result that surprised and impressed many people when U23 Thailand finished 4th, while U23 Vietnam finished last among the 10 participating teams.

Citing the above preliminary information, we can see that youth football in West Asia, Central Asia and East Asia is still the place that has achieved the most stable development. Youth teams of Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uzbekistan, Japan, Korea... are always competing with each other to compete for the top position in the continent. Meanwhile, in the Southeast Asia region, Thai youth football still proves its inherent strength, especially in the recent Doha Cup when they drew 2-2 with U23 Saudi Arabia, won 0-1 against host U23 Qatar and only lost narrowly to U23 Kuwait as mentioned above.

Specifically, in this continental friendly tournament, U23 Thailand scored 3 goals, conceded 3 goals, while U23 Vietnam conceded 7 goals but did not score any goals. The excellent attacking squad of Vietnamese youth football, who had scored 3 goals in the previous U20 ASIAN Cup, and were now trusted in a tournament of a more difficult and higher level, were powerless and completely silent.

Looking at the continental level, everyone can see that Vietnamese youth football is facing countless difficulties that cannot be overcome in a day or two. Although the lower regional level has lost more, it is worth mentioning that Vietnamese youth football has not yet created confidence against opponents Thailand or Indonesia. U23 Thailand has not won against U23 Vietnam in the SEA Games or the Southeast Asian Championship for a long time. But looking at the way they won or drew with powerful West Asian teams, no one can underestimate the remarkable progress of Khemdee and his teammates.

They are on a stable path after failure, not having to dismantle and start over like U23 Vietnam, while Thai League is not interrupted many times like V-League and youth football still achieves its goals. Thailand is the Southeast Asian team that dares to play ball control, high-level pressing against continental opponents, while U23 Vietnam is mainly confused and learning from each loss, before achieving something in the process of striving to reach new heights, shortening the gap with the top continental teams.

The new French coach Troussier currently does not have enough players to implement the new philosophy and new playing style that he has set at a high level compared to reality. The physique is inferior, the physical strength is not guaranteed, the connection cannot be achieved while the opponent has many advantages, so defeat is inevitable. Individual mistakes appear simultaneously in the defense, a traditional strength that has contributed to the success of Vietnamese football in recent years.

The current team has not found a leader to lead the game, support and motivate each individual and the whole team in difficult times and turning points, and there is no real star to create a breakthrough in the game to bring the match to the finish line as soon as possible. Learning from recent losses is necessary, but there are things that cannot be done just by wanting to, like improving physical strength, like finding a star like Quang Hai in his peak form, for example.

To see, haste and impatience of course do not guarantee that everything will soon be successful as desired. But if we keep thinking that the U23's recent 3 losses were within the calculation, not unexpected, and on the right track, then we have not fully and necessarily recognized the weak truth of youth football compared to the region, not to mention the higher, more classy continent.

Failure is the basis for all success, which is certainly only true for teams that lost by a narrow margin like U23 Thailand in the Doha Cup, U20 Iran in extra time, U20 Korea and Japan in penalty shootouts in the continental cup. If the team loses 0-3, then 0-4, the gap with the opponent is extremely large, the rope of experience will continue indefinitely, so talking about success seems like a dream.

The time from now to the 32nd SEA Games is not long, the time for U23 to gather is even shorter, starting from April 19. Mr. Troussier's determination in the face of all unfavorable developments is a positive signal from a seasoned leader. His students also did not show any signs of wavering after a tiring and confusing journey. More than ever, this is the time to promote the weapon of will, the secret weapon of each individual and the whole group, when everything, despite countless difficulties, will reveal many cleverness and superiority that cannot be revealed under normal conditions./.