SEA Games 30: The arduous journey of U22 Vietnam
(Baonghean.vn) - In just a few days, Coach Park Hang-seo and his team will officially embark on their journey to conquer the Gold medal in men's football at the 30th SEA Games, held in the Philippines.
The draw of luck has put U22 Vietnam in the same group with U22 Thailand, U22 Indonesia, U22 Singapore, U22 Laos and U22 Brunei. This is a "death group", because except for the two teams that are not highly rated, U22 Laos and U22 Brunei, the remaining 4 teams are all "famous" in Southeast Asian football.
Not to underestimate U22 Laos and U22 Brunei, but in many aspects, the two teams mentioned above cannot be equal opponents of the other 4 representatives. Therefore, it is almost certain that the 2 tickets to play in the semi-finals will be a fierce competition between U22 Vietnam, U22 Thailand, U22 Indonesia and U22 Singapore, the 4 strongest teams in Group B.
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| U22 Thailand (blue shirt) is the current champion of men's football at the SEA Games. Photo: vietnamnet.vn |
Of course, U22 Thailand is still the most formidable team. Coming to this year's tournament, although there is no player over 22 years old in the U22 Thailand squad, coach Nishino Akira still has a series of quality players. Typically Panya, Supachok, Supachai, Suphanat - 4 national players.
It can be said that the U22 Thailand team is now very different in quality compared to themselves nearly 8 months ago, when the young team from the "Land of the Golden Pagoda" was defeated by Ha Duc Chinh and his teammates with a score of 4 - 0 (March 26). That change originated from coach Nishino Akira, who is helping the Thai team "revive" after a period of serious crisis.
The match between U22 Vietnam and U22 Thailand, taking place on December 5, will be the third time that coach Nishino Akira and coach Park Hang-seo will face each other as captains. In the previous two confrontations in Group G - the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, the Japanese strategist and the Korean strategist were still undecided.
To avoid falling into a “lose or win” situation in the final match of Group B, both U22 Vietnam and U22 Thailand must achieve favorable results against U22 Indonesia, U22 Singapore, U22 Laos and U22 Brunei. This is not an easy task for the two teams of Coach Park Hang-seo and Coach Nishino Akira.
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| U22 Vietnam once faced U22 Indonesia in the 2020 AFC U23 qualifiers. Photo: bongda.com.vn |
U22 Indonesia and U22 Singapore have been making steady progress in recent times. The young team of the “island country” recently had a 2-1 victory over U22 Iran (November 16), while the young team of the “lion island” also had a 1-1 draw with U22 DPRK in the U23 Asian qualifiers, which took place in March.
It is known that in the U22 Indonesia and U22 Singapore squads participating in the 30th SEA Games, there are many players who are playing for the national teams of the two countries. Typically, Evan Dimas and Zulfiandi Masuk (U22 Indonesia), Ikhsan Fandi and Irfan Fandi (U22 Singapore) - talented and experienced players.
It seems that the journey to the semi-finals for Coach Park Hang-seo and his team is extremely difficult. If they do not fully exploit their abilities, Nguyen Quang Hai and his teammates will have to pay a very high price, just like in the tournament that took place more than 2 years ago./.
