Another "test" for U19 and U21 Vietnam

(Baonghean.vn) - The fact that U19 HAGL JMG defeated U21 Thanh Nien Newspaper team to win the right to play in the final match has made the balance of public opinion somewhat tilted in favor of sending the U19 team, with the core of U19 players from HAGL JMG Football Academy, to represent Vietnam to compete in the 2015 Sea Games.

However, many people who oppose this plan believe that at the Thanh Nien Newspaper International U21 Football Tournament, U19 HAGL JMG played unconvincingly, reaching the final was partly due to luck and the victory of this team against U21 Thanh Nien Newspaper still cannot say much.

Because the U21 Thanh Nien team, although it has gathered almost all the best faces of Vietnamese football aged 21 and under (next year they will turn 22 and most of them will be in the National U23 team), the training time is too short, not enough for the players and coaches to understand each other and find a suitable playing style. Meanwhile, U19 HAGL JMG have been training together for 7 years and coach Guillaume Graechen's team only won against their senior U21 players thanks to a lucky penalty shootout.

Furthermore, the somewhat excessive caution of coach Phan Cong Thin when instructing his students to focus on playing defense is the reason why the U21 Thanh Nien players could not develop their strengths. Of course, many U19 fans also have reasons to justify the unconvincing playing style of coach Guillaume Graechen's students in this tournament: the U19 players have just returned from competing in the U19 Asian Cup in Myanmar, so they have not had time to recover their physical strength, therefore they cannot play at their best.

Coach Graechen and his students.

Two opposing opinions before the final and semi-final of the Thanh Nien Newspaper International U21 Tournament taking place on the afternoon of October 28 will be another test to evaluate the ability of the U21 and U19 Vietnam players. To regain the support of the public and the VFF leaders, the U21 Thanh Nien Newspaper players have no other choice but to defeat U21 Malaysia, a team that just lost 1-2 to U19 HAG JMG in the group stage. Meanwhile, in order not to "lose points" and continue to strengthen their confidence, the U19 HAGL JMG stars must also make great efforts to win against the experienced U21 Thailand.

Although they are winning the hearts of a large audience nationwide and have the advantage to represent Vietnamese football at the Sea Games taking place at the end of next year, if U19 HAGL JMG loses to U21 Thailand in the Thanh Nien Newspaper Cup final on the afternoon of October 28, those advantages will almost be completely erased and the dream of representing Vietnamese football at the Sea Games will likely have to be put on hold.

To be fair, both U21 Thanh Nien Newspaper and U19 HAGL JMG are in a better position than their two opponents U21 Malaysia and U21 Thailand (it should be noted that both teams have brought a patchwork squad and are not the real national U21 team). If both Vietnamese teams win on the afternoon of October 28, the solution to the problem of bringing the current U19 National team or forming a new U23 National team whose core will be the players currently wearing the U21 Thanh Nien Newspaper jersey to represent Vietnamese football at the 2015 Sea Games will have to wait for the next test.

Hoang Hao