Examining the strength of U19 Vietnam's opponents at the Asian tournament

Today, U19 Vietnam will officially face U19 DPRK in the 2016 AFC U19 Championship finals in Bahrain. This is an opponent on par with U19 Vietnam and the other teams are not inferior…

As soon as the draw results were announced, experts and fans all commented that the U19 Vietnam team had fallen into a very difficult group. The opponents of U19 Vietnam were all at a different level and the goal of coach Hoang Anh Tuan and his team when facing these teams was probably just to limit the number of goals conceded, but it would be difficult to create a surprise.

The U19 DPRK is considered a strong candidate for the championship. They have a very glorious tradition of winning the U19 championship 3 times, including the 2 most recent times in the 2006 and 2010 finals. In the 2014 finals, the DPRK won the runner-up position.

The opponents of U19 Vietnam this time are all very strong.

The next opponent of U19 Vietnam is U19 UAE. This is a very formidable opponent, having won this tournament in 2008 and reached the quarter-finals in 2014. In the qualifying round, this young team showed an extremely comprehensive image of attack and defense with 3 absolute wins, scoring 15 goals and not conceding any.

Finally, the U19 Iraq team has won the continental championship 5 times. In the last qualifying round, U19 Iraq showed remarkable strength when winning all 3 matches, scoring 11 goals and only conceding 1 goal.

Speaking to the press before the match, coach Hoang Anh Tuan showed respect for his opponents, but emphasized that in football nothing can be predicted: "We are in the same group as UAE, Iraq and DPRK. Obviously, we are the weakest team. However, before the ball rolls, there are still opportunities for everyone. We will play to the best of our ability."

According to the coach from Khanh Hoa, U19 Vietnam will enter the match with confidence and a relaxed mentality. Being considered the weakest in the group is also a certain advantage for U19 Vietnam.

On the other side of the coaching bench, despite being rated higher, coach Ri-Song-ho of the DPRK still appeared very cautious: "In the 2014 tournament in Myanmar, we reached the final. However, the defeat in the final against U19 Qatar helped us gain a lot of experience to prepare for this year's tournament. U19 Vietnam is not an easy opponent and we will have to play to the best of our ability to think about a good result."

The match between U19 Vietnam and U19 DPRK will take place at 8:30 p.m. today at Khalifa Sports Stadium (Bahrain).

According to Dantri